
OIass__L 

Book J_ 



i Q- f 



7 
GNOMOLOGIA; 

Stages an& $rob*rf>s, 
WISE SENTENCES, 



WITTY SAYINGS 



ANCIBNT AND MODERN, FORBIGN AND BRITISH. 



COMPILED BY 

THOMAS FULLER, M. D 



A NEW EDITION. 



LONDON: 

PRINTED FOR T. AND J ALLMAN, PRINCE'S STREET, HANOVER 
SQUARE; AND BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY, PATERNOS- 
TER ROW. 

1817. 



\p 



x 






„ 62370 



TO THE READER. 



After my two late books of right thinking and acting, 
a third might naturally follow of speaking ; but this being 
a subject of great extent, and very numerous particulars, 
all I dare undertake, is to give you a collection of sucii 
remarkable sentences and sayings, as are usual and use- 
iiil in conversation and business. 

All of us forget more than we remember, and therefore 
it hath been my constant custom to note down and re- 
cord whatever I thought of myself, or received froin men 
or books, worth preserving. 

Among other things, I wrote out apothegms, maxims, 
k proverbs, acute expressions, vulgar sayings, &e. 

And having at length collected more than ever any 
Englishman has before me, I have ventured to send 
them forth, to try their fortune among the people. 

In ancient times, before methodical learning had got 
footing in the nations, and instructive treatises were writ- 
ten, the observations that wise men made from expe- 
rience, were used to be gathered and summed up into 
brief and comprehensive sentences, which being so con- 
trived, as to have something remarkable in their expres- 
sions, might be easily remembered, and brought into use 
on occasions— -these are called adages or maxims. 
A 2 



IV 

Also the men of business, and the common people, that 
they might in their affairs and conversation signify and 
communicate their sense and meaning in short, with 
smartness or with pleasantness, fell into customary little 
forms of words and trite speeches, which are called pro- 
verbs and common sayings. 

The former of these are from judgment, and are used 
by men of understanding and seriousness : the other are 
from wit, and are accommodated to the vulgar, and men 
of mirth. 

I conceive it is not needful for me accurately to deter- 
mine, which are to be called adages and proverbs ; nor 
nicely to distinguish the one from the other : all that I 
take upon me here to do is, only to throw together a 
vast confused heap of unsorted things, old and new, 
which you may pick over and make use of, according to 
your judgment and pleasure. 

Many of these are only plain bare expressions, to be 
taken literally in their proper meaning; others have 
something of the obscure and surprize, which, as soon 
as understood, renders them pretty and notable. 

They used to be taken from history, fables, parables, 
persons of note, and places, &c. and consist of allusions, 
allegories, metaphors, similes, hyperboles, ironies, &c. 

The use of them was very old, as is manifest from that 
of David, 1 Sam. xxiv. As saith the proverb of the an- 
cients. 

All the eastern nations, the Tartars, Turks, Arabians, 
Persia , and all the people of Asia, have ever had their 
remarkable sentences, proverbial, significant, and plea- 
sant sayings, which are peculiar to each, and oftentimes 
express the genius, disposition, wisdom, and wit, of that 
people. 



Vll 

to be spoke in the presence of wise, grave, virtuous, mo- 
dest, well-bred people, 

Before I end, I think it not amiss to add the following 
remarks : 

1. Aristotle (as one hath it) observes, that moral say- 
ings and proverbial speeches, are to be understood to be 
usually and for the most part true, and that there may be 
several exceptions made, and instances given, to the con- 
trary ; yet this does not infringe the general truth of them : 
but if in frequent common expressions they be found 
true, this is all the truth that is expected in them, because 
it is all that is intended by them. 

2. Adagies and proverbs are to be accounted only as 
sauce to relish meat with, but not as substantial dishes 
to make a meal on ; and therefore are never good, but 
upon proper subjects and occasions, where they may 
serve to give a lively force and pleasant turn to what is 
said ; but to apply them wrong, or crack them off too 
thick, like Sancha in Don Quixote, is abominably fop- 
pish, ridiculous, and nauseous. 

3. Because verses are easier got by heart, and stick 
faster in the memory than prose ; and because the ordi- 
nary people use to be much taken with the clinking of 
syllables ; many of our proverbs are so formed, and very 
often put into false rhymes; as, A stitch in time, may save 
nine; Many a little will make a mickle. This little ar- 
tifice, I imagine, was contrived purposely to make the 
sense abide the longer in the memory, by reason of its 
oddness and archness. 

4. I use the alphabetical order of the initial woi not 
as any help to the reader, but to myself, that I might the 
better avoid repetitions, which otherwise would be ex- 



VIII 

tremely difficult to do, in the writing out of so many thou- 
sand sentences, at different times. 

And now, having premised what I thought proper and 
expedient, I shall close this epistle with the following 
Epigram, communicated to me by a friend. 

Quae bene senserunt, bene quae dixere priores 

Transmissa ad nostros obstinuere dies. 
Communis vitae nihil observatur in usu, 

De quo non veterum dicta cavere monent. 
Hinc ortum vulgata suum proverbia ducunt, 

Voceque pro Populi multa per aeva valent. 
Saepe sub antiquo pressum, sub simplice verbo, 

Quod juvet et pariter pungat, acumen habent. 
Saepe incompositis pedibus sententia ludit, 

Disparibus rhythmis, et rudiore metro. 
Urbano risu nunc mordet apertius, et nuno 

Sub ficta occulitur rusticitate lepos. 
Usque sibi constans ratio pronunciat omni, 

Quae recte sentit, tempore, gente, loco. 



V 

As to the Hebrews, the sacred Scriptures give us many 
proverbs ; even our Saviour himself used them, Luke iv. 
23. Physician, heal thyself. 

As to the Grecians, Erasmus presents us with a won- 
derful large catalogue of them, both philosophers and 
poets, that were Gnomologists ; and the seven wise men 
of Greece were famous only for one single symbol a 
piece. 

As to our moderns, the Italians, Spanish, French, 
Germans, Scots, English, &c. have made collections of 
ihrir peculiar national adages and proverbs. 

Its a matter uf no small pains and diligence (whatever 
lazy, snarling persons may think) to pick up so many 
independent particulars, as I have here done. 

And its no trifling or useless thing neither; it being 
what many of the most learned and wisest men in the 
world have, in all ages, employed themselves upon. 

The son of Syrac will be had in everlasting remem- 
brance for his Ecclesiasticus. 

But, above all, that most glorious of kings, and wisest 
of men, Solomon, wrote, by divine appointment and in- 
spiration, proverbs, precepts, and counsels. 
Of the Greeks I have spoken before. 
Among the Romans, even the great Julius Czesar him- 
self, who by reason of the important affairs concerning 
government and wars, was the busiest man in the world, 
stole time to write a book of remarkable sayings, which 
is unfortunately lost. 

Valerius Maximus wrote ex professo, Dictorum fac- 
torumque memorabilium Mb. 9. 

Macrobius, in his Saternalia, wrote De dirersorum 
jocis et dicteriis. 



But to come nearer our own times: Erasmus fc>ok| 
infinite pains himself, in compiling his book of adages, I 
and it is augmented by the works of several other cele- 1 
brated persons, in it named ; and it was, (though of use [ 
to none but scholars, and a large volume) so well re- 
ceived, that it had twelve editions in his life-time. 

But of late, besides foreigners, divers of our own wor- 
thy countrymen, have thought it richly worth their time 
and pains to pick up, and publish proverbs and apo- 
thegms* 

The great Lord Bacon hath left us a very small col- 
lection of apothegms ; and saith, certainly they arc of 
excellent use, they are mucrones verborum, pointed 
speeches : they serve to be interlaced in continued 
speech ; Ihey serve upon particular occasions ; if you 
take out the kernel of them, and make them your own. 

Our excellent Mr. Raj r , with the assistance of many 
ingenious and learned friends, which he mentions by 
name, published a celebrated book of proverbs. 

And about ten years ago James Kelly, M. A. published 
a curious collection of Scotish proverbs, explained and 
made iutelligible. 

These things being undeniably so, no man ought to 
despise, ridicule, or any ways discourage the diligence 
and kindness of those, that take pains to bring home to 
others without price, those things of profit and pleasure. 

I picked up these sentences and sayings at severai 
times, according as they casually occurred, and most of 
them so long ago, that I cannot remember the particulars, 
and am now (by reason of great age and ill sight) utterly 
unable to review them ; otherwise I would have struck 
out all such as are not fit for the company, or are indecent 



FULLERS PROVERBS. 



-*^*- 



1 A HAD Jack may have as bad a .lilt 
"2 A bad padlock invites a picklock 
\3 A bad thing never dies 

4 A bad shift is better than no shift 

5 A bad workman never gets a good tool 

6 A barber learneth to shfcve by shaving of fools 

7 A barley-corn is better Chan a diamond to acock 
-8 A basket-jnstice, will do justice right or wrong 

9 A bean in liberty is better than a comfit in prison 

10 A beggar payeth a benefit with a louse 

11 A bellyful I is a bellyfull, whether it be meat or drink 
V2 A bird is known by its note, and a man by his talk 

13 A bird may be caught with a snare, that will not be 

shot 

14 A bit and a knock, as men feed npes 

15 A black hen will lay a white c^s: 

V6 A black man is a jewel in a fair woman's eye 

17 A blind man will be glad to see it 

18 A blind man will not thank you for a looking glass 

19 A blunt wedge will do it, where sometimes a 

axe will not 

20 A blow with a reed makes a noise, but hurts not 

21 A boaster and a liar are eousiu-germans 

22 A bold fellow is the jefct of wise men, and the idol ci 1 

tools 

23 A book that is shut, is but a block 

24 A brave retreat is a brave exploit 

.25 A bridle for the tongue is a necessary piece of fur- 
niture 
26 A broad bat docs not always cover a venerable head 



27 A broken friendship may be solder'd, but will never 

be sound 

28 A broken glass can't be hurt 

29 A Burston horse and a Cambridge-m aster of arts will 

give the way to nobody 

30 A bushel of March dust, on the leaves, is worth a 

king's ransom 

31 A calm is most welcome after a storm 

32 A careless watch invites the vigilant foe 

33 A carper can cavil at any thing 

34 A cat has nine lives, and a woman has nine cats lives 

35 A cat may look upon a king 

36 A charitable man is the true lover of God 

37 A child's birds and a boy's wife are well used 

38 A civil denial is better than a rude grant 

39 A clean hand wants no washing 

40 A clear conscience can bear any trouble 

41 A clear conscience is a sure card 

42 A clear conscience laughs at false accusations 

43 A close mouth catchetli no flies 

44 A college of whit-crackers 

45 A colt you may break, but an old horse you never can 

46 A common blot is held no stain 

47 A common jeerer may have wit but not wisdom 

48 A constant guest is never welcome 

49 A constrained will seeketh every opportunity to slip 

its head out of the collar 

50 A cook is known by his knife 

51 A covetous man does notbing that be should do till 

he dies 

52 A covetous man is a dog in a wheel that roasteih 

meat for others 

53 A covetous man is good to none, but worst to himself 

54 A cough will stick longer by a horse than a peck of 

oats 

55 A countryman may be as warm in kersey as a king 

in velvet 

56 A courageous foe is better than a cowardly friend 

57 A courtesy much entreated is half recompensed 

58 A coward's fear can make a coward valiant 

59 A crafty fellow never has any peace 

60 A cripple may possibly catch a hare 

61 A crooked stick will have a crooked shadow 

62 A crowd is not company 



63 A crown in pocket doth you more credit than an an- 

gel spent 

64 A curs'd cow has short horns 

65 A curs'd cur should be short tyM 

66 A customary railer is the devil's bagpipe, which the 

world danceth after 

67 A danger foreseen is half avoided 

68 A day to come shews longer than a year that's gone 

69 A day will come when fair dealing will be found a 

jewel 

70 A debauched son of a noble family is a foul stream 

from a clear spring 

71 A deformed body may have a beautiful soul 

72 A deluge of words and a drop of sense 

73 A detractor is his own foe, and the world's enemy 

74 A diamond is valuable, though it lie on a dunghill 

75 A disease know r n is half cured 

76 A dishonest woman cannot be kept in, and an honest 

one will not 

77 A dogmatical tone, a pragmatical pate 

78 A dog's life, hunger and ease 

79 A dog will not cry if you beat him with a bone 

80 A drowning man will catch at a rush 

81 A drunken night makes a cloudy morning 

82 A duck will not always dabble in the same gutter 

83 A dull ass near home needs no spur 

84 A dumb man never gets land 
So A dwarf threatens Hercules 

86 A fair booty makes many a thief 

87 A fair face and a foul bargain 

88 A fair face and a foul heart 

89 A fair face is half a portion 

90 A fair gamester among rooks must be beat 

91 A fair wife without a fortune, is a fine house without 

furniture 

92 A father is a treasure, a brother a comfort, but a 

friend is both 

93 A fault, once denied, is twice committed 

94 A fault, wilfully committed, deserveth no pardon 

95 A favour ill-placed is profusion 

96 A feast is not made of mushrooms only 

97 A fine diamond may be ill-set 

98 A fool and his money are soon parted 

99 A fool can dance without a fiddle 

B 2 



100 A fool demands much, but he's a greater that gives if 

10 1 A fool is better than an obstinate man 

102 A fool is happier in thinking well of himself than a 

wise man in others thinking well of him 

103 A fool knows more in his own house, than a wise 

man in another's 

104 A fool loseth his estate, before he finds his folly 

105 A fool may chance to put something into a wise 

man's head 

106 A fool's bolt is soon shot 

107 A fool's bolt may sometimes hit the white 

108 A fool's tongue is long enough to cut his own 

throat 

109 A fool's speech is a bubble of air 

1 10 A fool wants his cloak in a rainy day 

111 A fool when he hath spoke hath done all 

112 A fop of fashion is the mercer's friend, the tailors 

fool, and his own foe 

113 A forced kindness deserves no thanks 

1 14 A fortunate man may be any where 

115 A foul morn may turn to a fair day 

116 A fox should not be of the jury at a goose's trial 

1 17 A friend in court is as good as a penny in pocket 

118 A friend is never known till needed 

1 19 A friend in the market is better than money in the 

chest 

120 A friend to all, is a friend to none 

121 A friend that you buy with presents, will be bought 

from you 

122 A full cup must be carried steadily 

123 A full purse makes the mouth run over 

124 A gallant man needs no trumpets and drums to 

rouse him 

125 A gallant man rather despises death than hates life 

126 A generous confession disarms slander 

127 A gentleman ought to travel abroad, but dwell at 

home 

128 A gentleman should have more in his pocket than 

on his back 

129 A gentleman without an estate, is a pudding with- 

out suet 

130 A gift long waited for is sold, not given 

131 A gift with a kind countenance, is a double present 

132 A golden dart kills where it pleases 



133 A golden shield is of great defence 
1.34 A gold ring does not cure a felon 
!;io A good archer is not known by his arrow*, but his 
aim 

136 A good beast will get himself a heat with eating 

137 A good beginning makes a good ending 

133 A good candle- snuffer may come to Le a good 
player 

139 A good cause and a good tongue ; and }<-t mooei 

must carry it 

140 A good cause makes a stout heart and a strong ami 

141 A good conscience is the best divinity 

142 A good conscience needs never sneak 

143 A good day will not mend him, nor a had da\ im- 

pair him 

144 A good dog deserves a good bone 

145 A good edge is good for nothing, if it has nothing 

to cut 

146 A good example is the best sen* 

147 A good face needs no band, and a bad ojie (Jeserrcs 

none 

148 A good face needs no p*int 

141) A good faculty in lying, :s, now-a days, a fair step 
to preferment 

150 A good fame is better than a good fa^e 

151 A good friend is my nearest relation 

152 A good garden may have some weeds 

153 A good honest man, uow-a days, is but a h 

word for a fool 
151 A good hope is better than a bad possession 
-155 A good horseman wants a good spur 
}56 A good horse should be seldom spurred 
157, A good life fears not life nor death 
158 A good life is the only religion 
169 A good man has more hope in his death, tha 

wicked man in Ins life 
160 A good man is no more to be feared than a sheep 
101 A good man will as soon run into a fire as a quarrel 
16*2 A good man will requite a gift ; an ill man will ask 

more 

163 A good marksman may miss 

164 A good merchant may meet with a misfortune 

165 A good neighbour, a good morrow 

A good orator irmst be Cicero and Roscius in one nrcto 
b3 



6 

107 A good paymaster may build Paul's 

168 A good paymaster never wants workmen 

169 A good pinch, and a rap with a stick, is a clown's 

compliment 

170 A good presence is letters of recommendation 

171 A good present need not knock long for admittance 

172 A good reputation is a fair estate 

173 A good sailor may mistake in a dark night 

174 A good salad may be the prologue to a bad supper 

175 A good season for courtship is, when the widow 

returns from the funeral 

176 A good servant must have good wages 

177 A good shift may serve long, but cannot serve for 

ever 

178 A good tale ill told is a bad one 

179 A good tongue has seldom need to beg attention 

180 A good tongue is a good weapon 

181 A good thing is soon caught up 

1 82 A good tree is a good shelter 

183 A good winter brings a good summer 

184 A goose-({uill is more dangerous than a lion's claw 

185 A goss-hawk beats not at a bunting 

186 A gossip speaks ill of all, and all of her 

187 A grain of prudence is worth a pound of craft 

188 A great blockhead hath not stuff enough to make u 

man of sense 

189 A great bustle, and no business done 

190 A great ceremony for a small saint 

191 A great city, a great solitude 

192 A great cry and little wool 

193 A great dowry is a bed full of brambles 

194 A great fortune, in the hands of a fool, is a great 

misfortune 

195 A great fortune is a great slavery 

196 A great head and a little wit 

197 A great load of gold is more burthensome than a 

light load of gravel 

198 A great man and a great river are often ill neigh- 

bours 

199 A great man's foolish sayings pass for sentences 

200 A great man will not trample upon a worm, nor 

sneak to an emperor 

201 A great mark is soonest hit 

202 A great reputation is a great charge 



203 A great ship must have deep water 

204 A great tree hath a great fall 

205 A green winter makes a fat church-yard 

206 A green wound is soon healed 

207 A grunting horse, and a groaning* wife, seldom fail 

208 A guilty eonscienee never thinketh itself sale 

209 A giant will starve with what will forfeit a dwarf 

210 A handsaw is a good thing, but not to shave with 

211 A hare may draw a lion, if she have but a golden 

cord 

212 A heady man and a fool, may wear the same cap 

213 A hog in armour is still but a hog 

214 A hog that's bemired, endeavours to bemire others 

215 A hog upon trust, grunts till he's paid for 

216 A hook's well lost to catch a salmon 

217 A horse is neither better nor worse for his trapping 

218 A horse that will not carry a saddle must have no oats 

219 A hot May tills the church-yard 

220 A house built by the way-side, is either too high or 

too low 

221 A house ready built never sells for so much as it cost 

222 A house ready made, but a wife to make 

223 A house well furnished makes a good housewife 

224 A hungry man smells meat afar otf 

225 A jealous head is soon broken 

226 A jealous man's horns hong in his eves 

227 A jest driven too far, brings home hate or scorn 

228 A joke never gains over an enemy, but often loseth 

a friend 

229 A journey were better too long than dangerous 

230 A joyful evening may follow a sorrowful morning 

231 A Kentish jury ; hang half and save half 

232 A knave discovered is a great fool 

233 A knavish confession should have a cane for abso- 

lution 

234 A lamb is as dear to a poor man, as an ox to the 

rich 

235 A lame traveller should ^et out betimes 

236 A lazy ox is little belter for the goad 

237 A lazy sheep thinks its wool heavy 

238 A leaden sw ord in an ivory scabbard 

239 A libertine lite is not a life of liberty 

240 A life of leisure and a life of laziness are two 

things 

B4 



8 

241 A light purse makes a heavy he ait 

242 A linsey-wolsey gown does not become June 

243 A little barrel can give but a little meal 

244 A little bird is content with a little nest 

245 A little debt makes a debtor, but a great one an 

enemy 

246 A little evil contributes more to our misery 

247 A little of every thing is nothing in the main 

248 A little « hip needs not but a little sail 

249 A little stream may quench tinrst, as well as a great 

river 

250 A little stream will drive a light mill 

251 A little string will tie up a little bird 

252 A little time may be enough to hatch a great deal of 

mischief 

253 A little wind kindleth a great fire ; a great one 

bloweth it out 

254 A little wood will heat a little oven 

255 A long harvest and a little corn 

256 A long life hath long miseries 

257 A long ox and a short horse 

258 A lord without riches is a soldier without arms 

259 A low hedge is easily leaped over 

250 A loyal heart may be landed under Traitor's Bridge 

261 A liar is a bravo towards God, and a coward to- 

wards men 

262 A lie begets a lie till they come to generations 

263 A lie has no leg, but a scandal has wings 

264 A lion may come to be beholden to a mouse 

265 A mad beast must have a sober driver 

266 A mad bull is not to be tied up with a packthread 

267 A madman and a fool are no witnesses 

268 A mad parish must have a mad priest 

269 A maid that laughs is half taken 

270 A man among children will be long a child, a 

child ajtnong men will be soon a man 

271 A man apt to promise is apt to forget 

272 A man, as he manages himself, may die old at thirty, 

and a child at eighty 

273 A man at sixteen, will prove a child at sixty 

271 A man gains nothing by being vain-glorious but 
contempt and hatred 

275 A man gets no thanks for what he loseth at play 

276 A man has no more goods than he gets good by 



"277 A man is a man, though he have but a hose upon 
his head 

278 A man is a man, though he have never a cap to 

his crown 

279 A man is a stark fool all the while he's angry 

280 A man is not good or bad, for one action 

281 A man is not so soon healed as hurt 

282 A man in distress or despair does as much as ten 

283 A man in passion rides a horse that runs away 

with him 

284 A man knows his companion in a long journey and 

a little inn 

285 A man like a watch, is to be valued for his goings 

286 A man loseth his time, that comes early to a bad 

bargain 
i 287 A man may as well expect to be well, and at ease 
without wealth, as happy without virtue 

288 A man may be an artist, though he have not his tools 

about him 

289 A man may be good in the camp, and yet bad in 

the church 

290 A man may be happy here and hereafter, without 

much fame or wealth 

291 A man may be strong, and yet not mow well 

292 A man may buy even gold too dear 

293 A man may come to market though he don't buy 

oysters 

294 A man may lead his horse to water, but c&mioi 

make him drink 

295 A man may love his house, and yet not ride on the 

ridge 

296 A man may be young in years, and yet old in hours 

297 A man may have a just esteem of himself, withouf 

being proud 

298 A man may provoke his own dog to bite him 

299 A man may say even his Pater-noster out of time 

300 A man may say too much even upon the be^t of 

subjects 

301 A man must ask his wife's leave to thrive 

302 A man of courage never wants weapons 

303 A man of cruelty is God's enemy 

304 A man of many trades begs his bread on Sundays 

305 A man of parts may be hid all his life, unless for- 

tune call him out 



10 

306 A man's best fortune, or his worst, is a wife 

307 A man's folly ought to be his greatest secret 

308 A man's gift makes room for him 

309 A man is little the better for liking himself, if no 

body else like him 

310 A mau surprised is half beaten 

31 1 A man that breaks his word, bids others be false to him 

312 A man that keeps riches, and enjoys them not, is 

like an ass that carries gold and eats thistles. 

313 A man under no restraint, is a bear without a ring 

314 A man with a running head never wants where- 

with to trouble himself 

315 A man without ceremony had need of great merit 

in its place 

316 A man without money, is a bow without an arrow 

317 A man without money, is no man at all 

318 A mare's shoe and a horse's shoe are both alike 
819 A mariner must have his eye upon rocks and sands, 

as well as upon the north star 

320 A mastive groweth the fiercer, for being tied up 

321 A match, quoth John, when he kissed his dame 

322 A mere scholar at court is an ass among apes 

323 A merchant's happiness hangs upon chance, winds, 

and waves 

324 A merry companion is music in a journey 

325 A merry old fool, and a gay apish matron, are 

domestic monsters 

326 A mischievous plot may produce a good end 

327 A misty morning may have a fine day 

328 A modest man at court is the silliest wight breathing 

329 A mole wants no lanthorn 

330 A moneyless man goes fast through the market 

331 A mouse in time may shear a cable asunder 

332 A mouse roust not think to cast a shadow like an 

elephant 

333 A myrtle among thorns is a myrtle still 

334 A natural propension will have its course ; especially 

a bad one 

335 A nightingale cannot sing in a cage 

336 A nod of an honest man is enough 

337 A nod for a wise man, and a rod for a fool 

338 A nod from a lord is a breakfast for a fool 

339 A paradisical temper is not to be expected from 

postdiluvian mortals 



11 

340 A pebble and a diamond are alike to a blind man 

341 A penny more bays the whistle 

342 A penny saved is two pence got 

-~343 A penny weight of love is worth a pound of law 
344 A pennyworth of ease is worth a penny 
346 A pensive soul feeds upon nothing but bitters 

346 A person that is beautiful and vicious, is a fine picture 

set in a scurvy frame 

347 A petitioner at court that spares his purse, angles 

without a bait 

348 A piece of a kid is worth two of a cat 

349 A pilot is not chosen for his riches, but his knowledge 

350 A pin a day is a groat a year 

351 A place at court is a continual bribe 

352 A plaster is a small amends for a broken head 

353 A poor man gets a poor marriage 

354 A poor man has not many marks for fortune to 

shoot at 

355 A poor man's debt makes a great noise 

356 A poor man wants some things, a covetous man all 

things 

357 A poor pleader may do in a plain cause 

358 A poor spirit is poorer than a poor purse 

359 A poor wedding is a prologue to misery 

360 A pot that belongs to many, is ill stirred and worse 

boiled 

361 A pound of care will not pay an ounce of debt 

362 A pretty fellow to make an axle tree for an oven 

363 A pretty pig makes an ugly old sow 

364 A princely mind will undo a private family 

365 A prince wants a million, a beggar but a groat 

366 A promise against law or duty, is void in its own 

nature 
* 367 A proud look makes foul work in a fine face 

368 A proud man hath many crosses 

369 A proud mind and a poor purse are ill met 

370 A puff of wind and the praise of the people, weigh 

alike 

371 A purse without money, is but a piece of leather 

372 A quiet calf sucks its dam, and another cow also 

373 A quick baker, and a slow brewer 

374 A quiet conscience causes a quiet sleep 

375 A quiet conscience sleeps in thunder 

376 A race horse is an open sepulchre 



12 

377 A rascal grown rich has lost all his kindred 

378 A ready way to lose your friend, is to lend him 

money 

379 A reconciled friend is a double enemy 

380 A rich friend is a treasure 

381 A rich rogue ; two shirts and a rag 

382 A right Englishman knows not when a tiling is well 

383 A rogue's wardrobe is harbour for a louse 

384 A rope and butter ; if one slip, t'other will hold 

385 A scabbed horse is good enough for a scabbed 

knight 

386 A sceptre is one thing, a ladle another 
* 387 A scoff is the reward of bashfulness 

388 A Scotish mist may wet an Englishman to the skin 

389 A servant and a cock should be kept but a year 

390 A servant is known by his master's absence 

391 A servant never yet miscarried through excess of 

respect 

392 A shameless beggar must have a short denial 
303 A sheepskin shoe lasts not long 

394 A ship, a mill, and a woman, are always repairing 

395 A short horse is soon curried 

396 A short man needs no stool to give a long lubber 

a box on the ear 

397 A short prayer may reach up to the heaven of 

heavens 

398 A shrew profitable may serve a man reasonable 

399 A shroved tree may stand long 

400 A silver key can open an ircn lock 

401 A slight from an inferior is highly provoking 

402 A slight gift, small thanks 

403 A slip of the foot may be soon recovered ; but that 

of the tongue perhaps never 

404 A small demerit extinguishes a long service 

405 A small family is soon provided for 

406 A small hurt in the eye is a great one 

407 A small leak will sink a great ship 

408 A small matter hurts one that is sore 

409 A small pack becomes a small pedlar 

410 A small rain may allay a great storm 

411 A small shop may have a good trade 

412 A small sore wants not a great plaster 

413 A small sum may serve for a small reckoning 

414 A small wound may be mortal 



13 

415 A sraoaking chimney in a great house is a goo*! 

sign 

416 A snow year, a rich year 

417 A soft answer bids a furioso put up his sword 

418 A solitary man is either a brute or an angel 

419 A soui in a fat body lieth soft, and is loath to rise 

420 A sparrow in hand is worth a pheasant that flieth by 

421 A spot is most seen upon the finest cloth 

422 A spur in the head is worth two in the heels 
. 423 A stout heart crushes ill luck 

424 A stumble may prevent a fall 

425 A straight stick is crooked in the water 

426 A successful man loses no reputation 

427 A sweet and innocent compliance is the cement 

of love 

428 A swine fatted hath eat its own bane 

429 A tale twice told, is cabbage twice sod 

430 A thief knows a thief, as a wolf knows a wolf 

431 A thief passes for a gentleman, when stealing has 

made him rich 

432 A thin bush is better than no shelter 

433 A thin meadow is soon mowed 

434 A thinking man is always striking out something 

new 

435 A thistle is a fat sallad for an ass's mouth 

436 A thousand years hence, the river will run as it did 

437 A thread-bare coat is armour proof against high- 

waymen 

438 A thread too fine spun will easily break 

439 A thrush paid for, is better than a turkey owing 

for 

440 A tired traveller must be glad of an ass, if he have 

not a horse 

441 A toiling dog comes halting home 

442 A too quick return of an obligation is a sort of in- 

gratitude 

443 A tragical plot may produce a comical conclusion 

444 A tree is known better by its fruit, than its leaves 

445 A true friend does sometimes venture to be offen- 

sive 

446 A true reformation must begin at the upper end 

447 A virtuous woman, though ugly, is the ornament of 

the house 

448 A very good or very bad poet is remarkable; but a 

middling one, who can bear? 



14 

449 A very proud man is always wilful 

450 A vicious man has a blot in his 'scutcheon 

451 A vicious man's son has a good title to vice 

452 A wager is a fool's argument 

453 A wet hand will hold a dead herring 

454 A whet is not let, said the mower 

455 A whetstone can't itself cut, but yet it makes tools 

cut 

456 A whole bushel of wheat is made up of single grains 

457 A wicked book is the wickeder, because it cannot 

repent 

458 A wicked companion invites us all to hell 

459 A wicked man is afraid of his own memory 

460 A wicked man is his own hell ; and his passions and 

lusts the fiends that torment him 

461 A v icked man is the worst thing in the world 

462 A wife is not to be chosen by the eye only 

463 A wild colt may become a sober horse 

464 A wilful fault has no excuse, and deserves no 

pardon 

465 A wilful man had need be very wise 

466 A wiiful man never wants woe 

467 A willing mind makes a light foot 

468 A windy March and a rainy April, make a beautiful 

May 

469 A wise head hath a close mouth to it 

470 A wise look may secure a fool, if he talk not 

471 A wise man begins in the end ; a fool ends in the 

beginning 

472 A wise man is a great wonder 

473 A wise man may be kind without cost 

474 A wise man may look ridiculous in the company of 

fools 

475 A wise man turns chance into good fortune 

476 A wise man will make tools of what comes to 

hand 

477 A wise man's loss is his secret 

478 A wise man's thoughts walk within him, but a 

fool's without him 

479 A wise man will make more opportunities than he 

finds 

480 A woman is to be from her house three times ; 

when she is christened, married, and buried. 

481 A woman that paints, puts up a bill, that she is to 

be let . 



15 

482 A wonder lasts but nine days, and then the puppy's 

eyes are open 

483 A wooden leg is better than no leg 

484 A wool-seller knows a wool-buyer 

485 A word and a stone let go cannot be called back 

486 A word spoken, is an arrow let fly 

487 A word to the wise 

488 A yeoman upon his legs, is higher than a prince 

upon his knees 

489 A young man negligent, an old man necessitous 

490 A young prodigal, an old mumper 

491 A } oung saint, an old devil 

492 A young serving-man, an old beggar 

493 A young trooper should have an old horse 

494 A young twig is easier twisted than an old tree 

495 A young whore, an old saint 

496 A young woman married to an old man, must be- 

have like an old woman 

497 All are desirous to win the prize 

498 All are fellows at football 

499 All are good maids, but whence come the bad 

wives ? 

500 All are not friends that speak one fair 

501 All are not hanged that are condemned 

502 All are not thieves that dogs bark at 

503 All are not turners that are dish throwers 

504 All between the cradle and the coflin is uncertain 

505 All blood is alike ancient 

506 All brings grits to your mill 

507 All cats are alike grey in the night 

508 All commend patience, but none can endure to 

suffer 

509 All complain of want of memory, but none of want 

of judgment 

510 All covet, all lose 

511 All death is sudden to the unprepared 

512 All doors open to courtesy 

513 All fame is dangerous: good bringeth envy ; bad, 

shame 

514 All fish are not caught with flies 

515 All flesh is not venison 

516 All flowers are not in one garland 

517 All fool, or all philosopher 

518 All good is the better for being diffusive 



16 

519 All her dishes are chafing dishes 
620 All human power is hut comparative 
521 All ill workmen quarrel with their tools 

622 All is but lip-wisdom, that wanteth experience 

623 All is fine that is fit 

624 All is fish that comes to net 

626 All is soon ready in an orderly house 
526 All is not at hand that helps % 

627 All is not butter that comes from the cow 

628 AH is not gold that glitters 

529 All is not gospel that comes out of his mouth 

530 All is not lost that is in peril 

631 All is not won, that is put in the purse 

532 All lay load on the willing horse 

533 All liquors are not for every one's liking 

534 All mankind is beholden to him that is kind to the* 

good 

535 All meat is not the same in every man's mouth 

536 All men can't be first 

537 All men can't be masters 

538 All men naturally have some love and liking for 

truth 

539 All men think their enemies ill men 

540 AH of heaven and hell is not known till hereafter 

541 All rivers do what they can for the sea 

542 All saint without, all devil within 

543 All sorts of sweets are not wholesome 

544 All strive to give to the rich man 

545 All's good in a famine 

546 All's lost that is poured into a cracked dish 

547 All temptations are found either in hope or fear 
648 All that are black, dig not for coals 

549 All that breed in the mud are not eels 

550 All that is said in the parlour, should not be heard 

in the hall 
651 All the fat is in the fire 

552 All the joys in the world cannot take one grey hair 

out ot our heads 

553 All the ke^s hang not at one man's girdle 

564 All the leavers you can bring will not heave it up 

565 All the praise of inward' virtue consists in outward. 

action 
556 All the speed is in the spurs 
567 All the water in the sea cannot wash out this stain 



17 

658 All the world is not wise conduct and stratagem 
559 All the world will beat the man whom fortune 

bullets 
660 All things are difficult, before they are easy 
561 All things are easy, that are done willingly 
662 All things are not to be granted at all times 
563 All things help, quoth the wren, when she piss'd 

in the sea 

664 All things that great men do are well done 

665 All tilings thrive with him : be eats silk, and voids 

velvet 

666 All tongues are not made of the same flesh 
567 AH truth is not to be told at all times 

668 All unwarrantable delights have an ill farewell 

569 All women are good; viz. good for something, or 

good for nothing 

570 All worldly happiness consists in opinion 

671 All worldly profit, all pleasure is correspondent to a 

like measure of anxiety or wearisomeness 

672 All you will get by it, you may put into your eyes, 

and not see the worse 

573 All your eggs have two yolks apiece, I w r arrant j ou 

574 All your geese are swans 

576 An acute word cuts deeper than a sharp weapon 
676 An advantageous religion never wanted proseiit:< 

577 An affected superiority spoils company 

578 An alewite's sow is always w ell fed 

579 An angler eats more than he gets 

580 An ape may chance to sit amongst the dectors 
681 An apple may happen to be better given than eaten 
582 An Argus at bone, and a mole abroad 

683 Au artful fellow is a devil in a doublet 

684 An ass covered with gold is more respected, than 

a good horse with a pack-saddle 

585 An ass is but an ass, though laden with gold 

586 An ass is the gravest beasi, au owl the gravest bird 

587 An ass laden with gold overtakes every thing 

588 An ass loaded with gold, climbs to the top of a 

castle 

589 An ass must be tied, where the master will have him 

590 An ass that carries a load, is better than a lion 

that devours men 

591 An ass that kicketh against the wall, receives the 

blow himself 



18 

592 An ass was never cut out for a lap-dog 

593 An atheist is got one point beyond the devil 

594 An egg, and to bed 

595 An emmet may work its heart out, but can never 

make honey 

596 An empty belly hears nobody 

597 An empty purse frights away friends 

598 An empty sack cannot stand upright 

599 An enemy is a perpetual spy 

600 An enemy may chance to give good counsel 

601 An envious man is a squint-ey'd fool 

602 An evil conscience breaks many a man's neck 

603 An handful of trade is an handful of gold 

604 An handsome-bodied man in the face 

605 An happy man shall have more cousins than his 

father had kinsfolks 

606 An head with a good tongue in it is worth dou- 

ble the price 

607 An high station hath great hazards 

608 An honest and diligent servant is an humble friend 

609 An honest good look covereth many faults 

610 An honey tongue, a heart of gall 

611 An horse kiss like to beat one's teeth out 

612 An host's invitation is expensive 

613 An hour may destroy what an age was building 

614 An hour of pain is as long as a day of pleasure 

615 An hundred traitors, 100 weavers, and 100 mil- 

lers, make 300 thieves 

616 An hungry kite sees a dead horse afar off 

617 An hungry louse bites sore 

618 An hypocrite never thoroughly repents 

619 An hypocrite pays tribute to God, only that he may 

impose upon men 

620 An idle person is the devil's playfellow 

621 An ill conscience can never hope well 

622 An ill cook should have a good cleaver 

623 An ill cow may have a good calf 

624 An ill father desireth not an ill son 

625 An ill man in office is a mischief to the public 

626 An ill man is worst when he appeareth good 

627 An ill paymaster never wants excuse 

628 An ill receiver makes an ill paymaster 



19 

629 A n ill style is better than a lewd story 
930 An ill-tim'd jest hath ruined many 

631 An ill turn is soon done 

632 An inch breaketh no square 

633 An inch in an hour, is a foot in a day's work 

634 An inch in a man's nose is much 

635 An inch in missing, is as bad as an ell 

636 An inch of a horse is worth the span of a colt 

637 An indifferent agreement, is better than earning' a 

cause at law 

638 An insolent lord is not a gentleman 

639 An oak is not fell'd at one chop 

640 An obedient wife commands her husband 

641 An old ape hath an old eye 

642 An old courtier, a young beggar 

643 An old dog can't alter his way of barking 

644 An old fox needs not to be taught tricks 

645 An old fox understands a trap 

646 An old goat is never the more reverend for his 

beard 

647 An old man, if he be a trifler, is every one's scorn 

648 An old man is a bed full of bones 

649 An old man never wants a tale to tell 

650 An old ox makes a straight furrow 

651 An old ox will find a shelter for himself 

652 An old physician, and a young lawyer 

653 An old whore's curse is a blessing 

654 An old wrinkle never wears out 

655 An open door may tempt a saint 

656 An open knave is a great fool 

657 An ounce of fortune is worth a pound of forecast 

658 An ounce of wisdom is worth a pound of wit 

659 An ox, when he is loose, licks himself at pleasure 

660 An unbounded liberty will undo us 

661 An unfortunate man's cart is apt to overthrow 

662 An unpeaceable man hath no neighbour 

663 As a cat loves mustard 

664 As a wise child maketh a happy father, so a wise 

father makeih a happy child 

665 As a wolf is like a dog, so is a flatterer like a 

friend 

666 As brisk as a bee in a tar-pot 

667 As brisk as a body louse 

668 As broken a ship as this has come to land 



20 

669 As busy as a hen with one chick 

670 As crooked as Crawley brook 

671 As deep drinketh the goose as the gander 

672 As demure as an old whore at a christening 

673 As demure as if butter would not melt in his mouth 

674 As drunk as a tinker 

675 As drunk as David's sow 

676 As far from the heart, as from the eyes 

677 As fire kindled by bellows, so is anger by words 

678 As fit as a fritter for a friar's mouth 

679 As fit as a thump with a stone in an apothecary* 

eye 

680 As fond of it, as an ape is of a whip and a bell 

681 As good be an addled egg, as an idle bird 

682 As good beg of a naked man as of a miser 

683 As good be hanged for a sheep as a lamb 

684 As good do nothing, as to no purpose 

685 As good eat the devil as the broth he is boiled in 

686 As good have no time, as make no good use of it 

687 As good never a whit, as never the better 

688 As good out of the world, as out of the fashion 

689 As good play for nothing as work for nothing 

690 As good twenty as nineteen 

691 As good water goes by the mill as drives it 

692 As grave as an old gate post 

693 As grey as grannum's cat 

694 As great pity to see a woman cry, as to see a goose 

go barefoot 

695 As hasty as Hopkins, that came to jail over night 

and was hanged the next morning 

696 As high as a hog, all but the bristles 

697 As honest a man as any in the cards, when the 

kings are out 

698 As innocent as a devil of two years old 

699 As irrecoverable as a lump of butter in a grey- 

hound's mouth 

700 As is the gander, so is the goose 

701 As is the gardener, so is the garden 

702 As is the workman, so is the work 

703 A s kind as a kite ; all you can't eat, you hide 

704 As lame as St. Giles, Cripplegate 

* 705 As lazy as Jjudlanis dog, that leaned his head 
against the wail to bark 
706 As lawless as a town bull 



21 

707 As like as an apple is to a lobstef 

708 As like as two peas 

709 As long; as Meg of Westminster 

710 As Ion g as I live I'll spit in my parlour 

711 As long lives the merry heart as the sad 

712 As love thinks no cul, so envy speaks no good 

713 As mad as a March hare 

714 As mad as the baited bull at Stamford 

715 As much as York excels foul Sutton 

716 As much wit as three folks, two fools and a mad* 

man 

717 As necessary as an old sow among young children 

718 As nimble as a cow in a cage 

719 As nimble as an eel in a sand-bag 

720 As often as thou doest wrong, justice has thee oil 

the score 

721 As often as we do good, we sacrifice 

722 As old as the itch 

723 As pert as a frog upon a washing block 

724 As proud come behind as go before 

725 As rich as a new-shorn sheep 

726 As safe as a thief in a mill 

727 As slender in the middle, as a cow in the waist 

728 As soon as you have drank, you turn your back 

upon the spring 

729 As soon goes Ihe lamb's skin to the market as the 

ewe's 

730 As spiteful as an old maid 

731 As stout as a miller's waistcoat, that takes a thief 

by the neck every day 

732 As sure as exchequer pay 

733 As the best wine makes the sharpest vinegar, so the 

deepest love turns to the deadliest hatred 

734 As the market goes, wives must sell 

735 As the old cock crows, so crows the young 

736 As the touchstone trieth gold, so gold trieth men 

737 As the wind blows, seek your shelter 

1 738 As the wind blows, you must set your sail 

739 As they brew, so let them bake 

740 As troublesome as a wasp in one's ear 

741 As true as the dial to the sun 

742 As true steel as Rippon spurs 

743 As virtue is its own reward, so vice is its own 

punishment 



22 

744 As useless as monkey's grease 

745 As wary as a blind horse 

746 As welcome as a storm 

747 As welcome as flowers in May 

748 As welcome as w r ater in one's shoes 

749 As welcome as water in a leaking ship 

750 As wilful as a pig, that will neither lead nor drive 

751 As wise as Waltham's calf, that run nine miles to 

suck a bull 

752 As you brew, so drink 

753 As you make your bed, so lie down 

754 Absence cools moderate passions, but inflames 

violent ones 

755 Absence sharpens love, presence strengthens it 

756 Abuse does not hinder the use of a thing that is in 

itself lawful 

757 Abused patience turns to fury 

758 Accusing is proving, where malice and force sit 

judges 

759 Accusing the times is but excusing ourselves 

760 Action is the proper fruit of knowledge 

761 Admiration is the daughter of ignorance 

762 Adversity flattereth no man 

763 Adversity is easier borne, than prosperity forgot 

764 Adversity makes wise, though not rich 

765 Adversity oftentimes leads to prosperity 

766 Affairs that are done by due degrees, are soon 

ended 

767 Affinity in hearts is the nearest kindred 

768 Affirmations are apter to be believed than negations 

769 After cheese comes nothing 

770 After Christmas comes Lent 

771 After clouds, calm weather 

772 After death, the doctor 

773 After meat, mustard 

t74 After the greatest danger is the greatest pleasure 

775 Against God's wrath no castle is thunder proof 

776 Against the wild-fire of the mob there is no 

defence 

777 After this leaf another grows 

778 Age and wedlock brings a man to his night-cap 

779 Age and wedlock tame man and beast 

780 Age and wedlock we all desire and repent of 

781 Agree, for the law is costly 



23 

782 Air coming in at a window, is as bad as a cross- 
bow-shot 
T83 A lexander himself was once a crying babe 

784 Alexander was below a man, when he affected to 

be a god 

785 Alike ever}' day makes a clout on Sunday 

786 Alms are the golden key, that opens the gate of 

heaven 

787 Always you are to be rich next year 

788 Ambition plagues her proselites 

789 Amendment is repentance 

790 Among the people, Scoggi?i's a doctor 

791 Among the perils and dangers of life solitude is 

none of the least 

792 Anger begins with folly, and ends with repeutance 

793 Anger is a sworn enemy 

794 Anger is many times more hurtful than the injury 

that caused it. 

795 Anger is the fever and frenzy of the soul 

796 Anger is short-lived in a good man 

797 Anger makes a rich man hated, and a poor man 

scorned 

798 Anger may glance into the breast of a wise man, 

but rests only in the bosom of fools 

799 Anger punishes itself 

800 Angry men and drunken men, during the fit, arc 

distracted 

801 Angry men seldom want woe 

802 Another threshed what I reaped 

803 Antiquity cannot privilege an error, nor novelty 

prejudice a truth 

804 Antiquity is not always a mark of verity 

805 Any thing for a quiet life 

806 Apelles was not a master painter the first day 

807 Apes are never more beasts, than when they wear 

men's clothes 

808 Application makes the ass 

809 April and May are the key of all the year 

810 Are you afraid of him that died last year? 
8tl Are you there with your bears? 

812 Argument seldom convinces any one contrary to his 

inclination 

813 Arrogance is a weed that grows mostly in a dunghill 

814 Art helps nature, and experience art 



815 Art must be deluded by art 

816 Ask a kite for a feather, and she'll say, she has but 

just enough to fly with 

817 Ask my companion if I'm a thief 

818 Ask the mother, if the child be like his father 

819 Ask the seller, if his ware be bad 

820 Ask thy purse what thou shouldest buy 

821 Asses die, and wolves bury them 

822 Asses that bray most, eat least 

823 At a good table we may go to school 

824 At a round table the herald's useless 

825 At a court, every one for himself 

826 At the end of the game you'll see who's the Winner 

827 At the end of the work, you may judge of the 

Workman 

828 At the gate which suspicion enters, love goes out 

829 At weddings and funerals, friends are discerned from 

kinsfolks 

830 Bacchus hath drown'd more men than Neptune 

831 Backbiting oftener proceeds from pride than malice 

832 Bad customs are better broke than kept up 

833 Bad excuses are worse than none 

834 Bad luck often brings good luck 

835 Bad priests bring the devil into the church 

836 Bald heads are soon shaven 

837 Barbarous asses ride on Barhary horses 

838 Bare words buy no barley 

839 Bare walls make gadding housewives 

840 Barefoot must not go among thorns 

841 Base natures, if they find themselves suspected, will 

never be true 

842 Base terms are bellows to a slackening fire 

843 Bashfulnesss is boyish 

844 Batchelor's wives and maid's children are well taught 
845, Bate me an ace, quoth Bolton 

846 Be a father to virtue, but a father-in-law to vice 

847 Be a friend to thyself, and others will be so too 

848 Be aware of a fine tongue ; 'twill sting mortally 

849 Be as you would seem to be 

860 Be content; the sea hath fish enough 

851 Be merry and wise 

852 Be not choleric ; it will make you look old 

853 Be not hasty to outbid another 



25 

854 Be old betimes, that thou inay'st long be so 

855 Be silent before a great man ; or speak what may 

please him 

856 Be silent, or speak something worth hearing 

857 Be the business never so painful, you may hare it 

done for money 

858 Better a barn filled than a bed 

859 Better a blush in the face than a spot in the heart 

860 Better abridge petty charges than stoop to petty 

gettings 

861 Better a fair pair of heels than a halter 

862 Better a good word than a battle 

863 Better a lean jade than an empty halter 

864 Better a lean peace than a fat victory 

865 Better a little lire to warm us, than a great one to 

burn us 

866 Better a master be feared than despised 

867 Better a mouse in the pot than no flesh at all 

868 Better a portion in a wife than with a wife 

869 Better a tooth out, than always aching 

870 Better an empty house than an ill tenant 

871 Better be a cuckold and not know it than be none 

and every boo^y say so 

872 Better be alone than in bad company 

873 Better be a shrew than a sheep 

874 Better be denied than/deceived 

875 Better be poor and live safe at land than be rich 

and perish in the sea 

876 Better be poor than wicked 

877 Better be spited than pitied 

878 Better be stung by a nettle than pricked by a rose 

879 Better be up to the ancles than quite over head 

and ears 

880 Better be unmannerly than troublesome 

881 Better belly burst, than good drink lost 

882 Better bow than break 

883 Better break your word than do worse in keeping it 

884 Better buy than borrow 

885 Better come at the latter end of a feast than the 

beginning of a fray 
866 Better cry phy salt than phy stink 

887 Better cut the shoe than pinch the foot 

888 Better die a beggar than live a beggar 

889 Better direct well than work hard 



26 

890 Better do it, than wish it done 

891 Better dwell with a dragon than with a wicked 

woman 

892 Better eat salt with pilosophers of Greece, than eat 

sugar with courtezans of Italy 

893 Better fare hard with good men than feast it with 

had 

894 Better fed than taught, said the churl to the parson 

895 Better give a shilling than lend and lose half a 

crown 

896 Better give the wool than the whole sheep 

897 Better go hack than lose yourself 

898 Better go to heaven in rags than to hell in em- 

broidery 

899 Better go to bed supperless than rise in debt 

900 Better half a loaf than no bread 

901 Better half an e^g than an empty shell 

902 Better have a dog fawn upon you than bite you 

903 Better have an old man to humour than a yoang 

rake to break your heart 

904 Better have no children than sottish and mad ones 
i)05 Better have one plough going than two cradles 

906 Better hazard once than be always in fear 

907 Better keep the devii at the door than turn him out 

of the house 

908 Better kiss a knave than' be troubled with him 

909 Better known than trusted 

910 Better late ripe and bear,than early blossom and blast 

911 Better late than ne\er 

912 Better leave than lack 

913 Better live in a poor hovel than be buried in a rich 

sepulchre 

914 Better live within compass than have large comings 

in 

915 Better lose a jest than a friend 

916 Better master one than engage with ten 

917 Better never have been handsome when young, than 

ugly when old 

918 Better no ring than a ring of a rush 

919 Better one's house be too little one day than too 

big all the year after 

920 Better ride an ass that carries us than a horse that 

throws us 

921 Better say nothing than nothing to the purpose 



&22 Better shelter under an old hedge, than a young 
furzebush 

923 Better sit up all night than go to bed to a dragon 

924 Better some of a pudding than none of a pie 

925 Better so than worse 

926 Better spent than spared 
92/^Better's a dirty hog than no hog at all 

928 Better's the head of an ass than the tail of a horse 

929 Better's the last smile than the first laughter 

930 Better strive with an ill ass than carry the wood 

one's self 

931 Better to say here it is than here it was 

932 Better the foot slip than the tongue 

933 Better the head of the yeomen than the tail of the 

gentry 

934 Better thou perish than truth 

935 Better two drones be preserved than one good bee 

perish 

936 Better two losses than one sorrow 

937 Better unborn than unbred 

938 Better untaught than ill taught 

939 Better walk leisurely than lie abroad all night 

940 Better wear out shoes than sheets 

941 Better sell than live poorly 

942 BctteY go away longing than loathing 

943 Be you never so high the law is above you 

944 Beads about the neck and the devil in the heart 

945 Bear with evil, and expect good 

946 Bear garden breeding 

947 Beauty is a blossom 

948 Beauty draws more than oxen 

949 Beauty in women is like the flowers in the spring ; 

but virtue is like the stars of heaven 

950 Beauty is but skin deep ; within is filth and putre- 

faction 

951 Beauty is no inheritance 

952 Beauty is potent-; but money is more potent 

953 Beauty is soon blasted 

954 Beauty is the subject of a blemish 

955 Beauty may have fair leaves, yet bitter fruit 

956 Beauty will buy no beef 

957 Beauty without virtue is a curse 

958 Beauties without fortunes have sweethearts plenty, 

but husbands none at all 
'C2 



28 

959 Bees that have honey in their mouths hare stings 

in their tails 

960 Before the cat can lick her ear 

961 Beggars and borrowers must be no chusers 

962 Beggars fear no rebellion 

963 Beggars can never be bankrupts 

964 Beggars may sing before a thief 
966 Beggars never are out of their way 

966 Begging of a courtesy is selling of liberty 

967 Begin with Argus' eyes, and finish with Briarieus 7 

hands 

968 Believe well, and have well 

969 Bells call others to church, but go not themselves 

970 Best dealing with an enemy when you take him at 

his weakest 

971 Best to bend it while a twig 

972 Bestow on me what you will, so it be none of your 

secrets 

973 Between hawk and buzzard 

974 Between promising and performing a man may mar- 

ry his daughter 

975 Between two stools the breech cometh to the ground 

976 Beware of had I wist 

977 Beware of no man more than thyself 

978 Beware of the lore part of a woman, the hind-part of 

a mule, and all sides of a priest 

979 Beware of the stone thou stumblest at before 

980 Bind so as you may unbind 

981 Birds are entangled by their feet, and men by their 

tongues 

982 Birds pay equal honours to all men 

983 Birth is much, but breeding is more 

984 Biting and scratching gets the cat with kitten 

985 Bitter pills may have wholesome effects 

986 Black plums may eat as sweet as white 

987 Blaek will take no other hue 

988 Blessed is the peace-maker, not the conqueror 

989 Blessings are not valued till they are gone 

990 Blind men must not run 

991 Blind men should not judge of colours 

992 Blind mens wives need no paint 

993 Blots are no blots till hit 

994 Bloody and deceitful men dig their own graves 

995 Blow first, and sip afterwards 



29 

t)96 Blow not against the hurricane 

997 Blow, smith, and you'll get money 

998 Blow thy own pottage, and not mine 

999 Blushing is virtue's colour 

1000 Blush like a black dog 

1001 Bodily labour earns not much * 

1002 Boil not the pap before the child be bom 

1003 Boil stones in butter, and you may sip the broth 

1004 Bold resolution is the favourite of Providence 

1005 Boldness is blind 

1006 Boldness in business is the first, second, and thi;d 

thing 

1007 Borrow not too much upon time to come 

1008 Borrowed garments never sit well 

1009 Both folly and wisdom come upon us with years 

1010 Bought friends are not friends indeed 

1011 Bought wit is best, but may cost too much 

1012 Bounty may be bounty, and yet not go a begging 

for admittance 

1013 Bows too long bent grow weak 

1014 Boys will be men 

1015 Brag's a good dog, but dares not bite 

1016 Brave actions never want a trumpet 

1017 Bread with eyes, cheese without eyes, and wine 

that leaps up to the eyes 

1018 Bribes throw dust into cunning men's eyes 

1019 Bribes will enter without knocking 

1020 Bring not a bagpipe 1o a man in trouble 

1021 Bring your line to the wall, not the wail to the iine 

1022 Broken sacks will hold no corn 

1023 Buffoonery and scurrilitj are the corruption of wit, 

as knavery is of wisdom 

1024 Burn not your house to fright away the mice 

1025 Bush natural ; more hairs than wit 

1026 Business is the salt of life 

1027 Business may be troublesome, but idleness is per- 

nicious 
e.1028 Business and action strengthen the brain, but too 
much study weakens it 

1029 Busy-bodies never want a bad day 

1030 But help me to money, and I'll help myself to, 

friends 

1031 But one e^, and that addled too 

- c 3 



30 

1032 Butter is gold in the morning, silver at noon, and 

lead at night 

1033 Buy and sell, and live by the loss 

1034 Buy at a market, and sell at home 

♦ 1035 Buyers want an hundred eyes, sellers none 

1036 Buying and selling is but winning aud losing 

1037 By art and deceit men live half a year; and by 

deceit and art the other half 

1038 By doing nothing we learn to do ill 

1039 By fits and girts, as an ague takes a goose 

1040 By hook or by crook 

1041 By ignorance we mistake, and by mistakes we learn 

1042 By land or water the wind is ever in my face 

1043 By requiting one friend we invite many 

1044 By the husk you may guess at the nut 

1045 Calamity is the touchstone of a brave mind 

1046 Call me cousin, but cozen me not 

1047 Cafl not a surgeon before you are wounded 

1048 Call your husband cuckold in jest, and he'll ne'er 

suspect you 

1049 Calumny and conjecture may injure innocency it- 

self 

1050 Can a mill go with the water that's past 

1051 Can a mouse fall in love with a cat 

1052 Can a jackanapes be merry when a clog is at his 

heels 

1053 Can you make a pipe of a pig's tail 

1054 Can't I be your friend, but I must be your fool too 

1055 Canterbury's the higher rack, but Winchester's the 

better manger 

1056 Capons were at first but chickens 
' 1057 Care aud diligence bring luck 

1058 Careless men let their end steal upon them una- 

wares and unprovided 

1059 Careless shepherds make many a feast for the wolf 

1060 Care's no cure i 

1061 Care not, and that will prevent horns 

1062 Care will kill a cat ; yet there's no living without 

it 

1063 Carrion kites will never make good hawks 

1064 Carry coals to Newcastle 

1065 Carry your knife even between the paring and the 

apple 



31 

1066 Cast a bone in the de'il's teeth, and it will save 

YOU 

1067 Cast no dirt into the well that hath given you 

water 

1068 Cast not out thy foul water till thou hast clean 

1069 Cast not the helve after the hatchet 

1070 Cat after kind 

1071 Cats are hungry when a crust will content them 

1072 Cats hide their claws 

1073 Catholic charity makes us members of the catholic 

church 

1074 Cause not thine own dog to bite thee 

1075 Censure and scandal are not the same 

1076 Censure's the tax a man pays the public for being 

eminent 

1077 Cent, per cent, do we pay for every vicious plea- 

sure 

1078 Ceremonious friends are so, as far as a compliment 

will go 

1079 Chains of gold arc stronger than chains of iron 

1080 Chance is a dicer 

1081 Change of pasture makes fat calves 

1082 Change of weather is the discourse of fools 

1083 Chair-folks are never paid enough 

1084 Charity and pride have different aims, yet both 

feed the poor 

1085 Charity begins at home, but should not end there 

1086 Charity excuseth not cheating 

1087 Charity may be mistaken, but shall never be re- 

warded 
10,88 Charity will rather wipe out the score than in- 
flame the reckoning 

1089 Charon waits for all 

1090 Cheat me in the price, but not in the goods 

1091 Chickens now-a-davs cram the cock 

1092 Children and fools tell truth 

1093 Children and fools have merry lives 

1094 Children are poor men's riches 

1095 Children are certain cares but uncertain comforts 

1096 Children cry for nuts and apples, and old men for 

gold and silver 

1097 Children have wide ears and long tongues 

1098 Children increase the cares of life, but mitigate the 

remembrance ofjieath 
c4 



32 

1099 Children suck the mother, when they are young, 

and the father when grown up 

1 100 Children, when little, make parents fools ; when 

great, mad 

1101 Child's pig, but father's hog 

1102 Choak up child, the church-yard's nigh 

1 103 Choler hates a counseller 

1104 Choler is the oirlv unruly passion that justifies it- 

self 

1105 Choleric men are blind and mad 

1106 Church-work goes on slowly 

1107 Chuse a wife rather by your ear than your eye 

1108 City gates stand open to the bad as well as the 

good 

1109 Civil carriage is the best sign of affection to a wo- 

man 

1110 Claw me, and I'll claw thee 

1 1 11 Clean hands want no washball 

1112 Cleaning a blot with blotted fingers makeih a 

greater blur 

1113 Clear and round dealing is the honour of man's 

nature 

11 14 Close mouth 

1115 Clouds, that the sun builds up, darken him 

1116 Cioudy mornings may turn to clear evenings 

1117 Clowns are best in their own company, but gentle- 

men are best every where 

1118 Coarse bread at home is better than roast meat 

abroad 

1119 Cold of complexion, good of condition 

1120 Come and welcome; go by, and no quarrel 

1121 Come, crack me this nut, quoth Bumstead 

1122 Come, slit me this hair 

1123 Come, uncalled; sit, unserved 

1124 Command your man, and do it yourself 

1125 Command your wealth, else that will command 

you 

1126 Commend not your wife, wine, nor house 

1127 Common fame hath a blister on its tongue 

1128 Common people hang more after praise than profit 

1 129 Common sense is the growth of ail countries 

1130 Commonly he is not stricken again who laughs 

when he strikes 

1131 Company in misery makes it li&ht 



S3 

1132 Company makes cuckolds 

1133 Comparison, more than reality, makes men happy 

or wretched 

1 134 Comparisons are odious 

1135 Compliments cost nothing, yet many pay dear for 

them 

1136 Concealed goodness is a sort of \ice 

1137 Concealed grudges are gangrenes in friendship 

1138 Conceited half-witted fellows think nothing can 

be done without them 

1139 Confess debt, and beg days 

1140 Confession of a fault makes half amends 

1141 Confidence goeth farther in company than good 

sense 

1142 Conform to common custom, and not to common 

folly 

1143 Congruity is the mother of love 

1144 Conscience can't be compelled 

1145 Consideration gets as many victories as rashness 

loses 

1146 Consideration is half conversion 

1147 Consideration is the parent of wisdom 

1148 Constant complaints never get pity 

1149 Contempt is usually worse borne than real injuries 

1150 Contempt will cause spite to drink of her own 

poison 

1 151 Contend not about a goat's beard 

1152 Content is happiness 

1153 Content is more than a kingdom 

1154 Content is the philosopher's stone, that turns all it 

touches into gold 

1155 Content lodges oftener in cottages than palaces 

1156 Continual cheerfulness is a sign of wisdom 

1157 Contradiction should awaken attention, not passion 

1158 Conversation teaches more than meditation 

1159 Cook ruffian able to scald the devil out of his fea- 

thers 

1160 Cooks are not to be taught in their own kitchen 

1161 Cool words scald not the tongue 

1 162 Corn in good years is hay ; in ill years straw is corn 

1163 Corn is not to be gather'd in the blade, but the ear 

1164 Coi*nelius ought to be Tacitus 

1165 Correction should not respect so much what is past 

as what is to come 

. c 5 



34 

1166 Corruption of the best becomes the worst 

1167 Cover yourself with honey, and the flies will heave 

you 

1168 Covetous men are condemned to dig in the mines 

for they know not who 

1169 Covetous men are shamefully rich 

1170 Covetous men's chests are rich, not they 

1171 Covetous men live drudges to die wretches 

1172 Covetous men are not so well fed, clothed, or re- 

spected, as other men 

1173 Covetousness, as well as prodigality, brings a man 

to a morsel of bread 

1174 Covetousness breaks the sack 

1 175 Covetousness brings nothing home 

1176 Covetousness is always filling a bottomless vessel 

1 177 Covetousness is generally incurable 

1 178 Covetousness often starves other vices 

1 179 Counsel is as welcome to him as a shoulder of mut- 

ton to a sick horse 

1180 Counsel is happiness 

1181 Counsel is irksome when the matter is past remedy 

1182 Counsel is no command 

1183 Counsel must be followed, not praised 

1184 Counsel over cups is crazy 

1185 Count not your chickens before they be hatch'd 

1186 Courage and resolution are the spirit and soul of 

virtue 

1187 Courage, conduct, and perseverance conquer all 

before them 
J 188 Courage ought to have eyes as well as arms 

1 189 Courage without fortune destro}s a man 

1 190 Courtesy is the inseparable companion of virtue 

1191 Courtesy on one side can never last long 

1192 Courts keep no almanacks 

1193 Cousin-germans quite removed 

1 194 Cowards are cruel 

1 J 95 Cowards are made to be trampled on, unless their 
wit cover them 

1196 Cowards run the greatest danger of any men in a 
battle 

1 197 Cowardice is afraid to be known or seen 

1198 Craft borders upon knavery; wisdom never uses 

nor wants it 
) 199 Craft counting all things brings nothing home 



35 

1200 Craft must have clothes, but truth loves to go na- 

ked 

1201 Crafty evasions save not veracity 

1202 Crafty men deal in generals 

1203 Credit lost is a Femce-glass broken, which cannot 

be soider'd 

1204 Credulity tells people we are short sighted 

1205 Crimes may be secret, but yet not secure 

1206 Cringing is a gainful accomplishment 

1207 Crooked by nature, is never made straight by edu- 

cation 

1208 Crosses are ladders to heaven 

1209 Crosses, though they be not pleasant, yet are whole- 
some 

1210 Crows are never the whiter for washing themselves 

121 1 Crows bewail the dead sheep, and then eat them 

1212 Cruelty deserves no mercy 

1213 Cruelty is a tyrant that is always attended with 

fear 

1214 Cruelty is the first attribute of the devil 

1215 Cuckolds are Christians all the world over 

1216 Cuckolds themselves are the very last that know it 

1217 Cunning borders upon ill craft 

1218 Cunning craft is but the ape of wisdom 

1219 Curiosity is endless, restless, and useless 

1220 Curiosity is ill manners in another's house 

1221 Custom is another nature 

1222 Custom is generally too hard for conscience 

1223 Custom is the guide of the ignorant 

1224 Custom is the plague of wise men, and the idol of 

fools 

1225 Custom makes ail things easy 

1226 Custom without reason is but an ancient error 

1227 Cut off the head and tail, and throw the rest away 

1228 Cut, or give me the bill 

1229 Cut your coat according to your cloth 

1230 Cutting out well is better than sewing up well 

1231 Danger and delight grow both upon one stock 

1232 Dangers are overcome with dangers 

1233 Danger is next neighbour to security 

1234 Danger past, God is forgotten 

1235 Daughters and dead fish, are no keeping wares 

1236 Daws love one another prattle 



86 

1237 Day and night, sun and moon, air and light, every 

one must have, and none can buy 

1238 Dead folks are past fooling 

1239 Dead folks can't bite 

1240 Dead men are of no family, and are akin to none 

1241 Dead mice feel no cold 

1242 Deaf men are quick-ey'd and distrustful 

1243 Deaf men go away with the blame 

1244 Death and the sun are two things not to be looked 

on with a steady eye 

1245 Death devours lambs as well as sheep 

1246 Death has nothing terrible in it, but what life hath 

made so 

1247 Death hath not so ghastly a face at a distance as it 

hath at hand 

1248 Death is a certain remedy for the injuries of for- 

tune and vexations of life 

1249 Death is bitter to a man in prosperity, or in much 

business 

1250 Death is the grand leveller 

1251 Death keeps no calender 

1252 Death meets us every where 

1253 Death rather frees us from ills than robs us of our 

goods 

1254 Death surprises us in the midst of our hopes 

1255 Death's day is doom's day 

1256 Debt is a heavy burthen to an honest mind, but 

thievish borrowers make light of it 

1257 Debt is an evil conscience 

1258 Debt is the worst poverty 

1259 Deceit is in haste, but honesty can wait a fair leisure 

1260 Deceiving those that trust us is more than a sin 

1261 Deceiving of a deceiver is no knavery 

1262 Decency and decorum are not pride 

1263 Deeds are fruits, words are leaves 

1264 Defiance provokes an enemy 

1265 Delays increase desires, and sometimes extinguish 

them 

1266 Deliberating is not delaying 

1267 Denying a fault doubles it 

1268 Dependance is a poor trade 

1269 Desert and rewards very often go not together 

1270 Desire of glory is the last garment that even wise 

men put off 



37 

1271 Desire to forsake the world 

1272 Despair gives courage to a coward 

1273 Despair hath damn'd some ; but presumption mul- 

titudes 

1274 Desperate cases must have desperate cures 

1275 Destiny leads the willing, but drags the unwilling 

1276 Destroy the lion while he is yet but a whelp 

1277 Detraction is a weed that grows only on dunghills 

1278 Detractors are their own foes, and the world's 

enemies 
1270 Dexterity comes by experience 

1280 Diamonds cut diamonds 

1281 Dick's as dapper as a cock- wren 

1282 Did you ever before hear an ass play upon a lute 

1283 Different sores must have different salves 

1284 Difficulty makes desire 

1285 Difficulties give way to diligence 

1286 Diffidence is the right eye of prudence 

1287 Dignities and honours set off merit, as good dress 

does handsome persons 

1288 Diligence alone is a good patrimony, but negli- 

gence will waste a fair estate 

1289 Diligence is the mother of good fortune 

1290 Dine with Duke Humfrey 

1291 Dirt is dirtiest upon clean white linen 

1292 Dirty troughs will serve dirty sows 

1293 Discontents generally arise from our desires more 

than our wants 

1294 Discreet stops make speedy journeys 

1295 Discreet wives have sometimes neither eyes nor ears 

1296 Discretion in speech is more than eloquence 

1297 Diseases are the price of ill pleasures 

1298 Disputations leave truth in the middle, and party at 

both ends 

1299 Dissembled sin is double wickedness 

1300 Distrust is the mother of safety, but must keep out 

of sight 

1301 Do all you can to be good, and you'll be so 

1302 Do as little as you can to repent of 

1303 Do as most men do, and men will speak well of thee 

1304 Do business, but be not a slave to it 

1305 Do evil, and look for the like 

1306 Do good, if you expect to receive it 

1307 Do in the hole as thou would'st do in the hall 



1308 Do it well that thou may'st not do it twice 

1309 Do nothing hastily hut catching of flees 

1310 Do the likeliest, and hope the best 

1311 Do well, and have well 

1312 Dogs are hard drove when they eat dogs 

1313 Dogs bark as they are bred 

1314 Dogs never go into mourning when a horse dies 

1315 Dogs once scalded are afraid even of cold water 

1316 Dogs ought to bark before they bite 

1317 Dogs that bark at a distance never bite 

1318 Dogs, that hunt foulest, hit off most faults 

1319 Dogs, that put up many hares, kill none 

1320 Dogs wag their tails, not so much in love to you as 

your bread 

1321 Don't turn baker if your head be made of butter 

1322 Double charging will break even a cannon 

1323 Dower-court, all speakers and no hearers 

1324 Draff is g< od enough for swine 

1325 Draff was his errand, but drink be would have 

1326 Draw not thy bow before thy arrow be fixed 

1327 Drawn wells are seldom dry 

1328 Dress up even a little toad, and it will look pretty 

1329 Drink and drought come not always together 

1330 Drink w ashes off' the daub, and discovers the man 

1331 Drink wine, and have the gout ; drink none, and 

have it too 

1332 Drink wine in winter for cold, and in summer for 

heat 

1333 Drinking kindness is drunken friendship 

1334 Drive not a second nail till the first be clinched 

1335 Drive not too many ploughs at once ; some will 

make foul work 

1336 Drive that nail that will go 

1337 Drop by drop the sea is drained 

1338 Drought never bred dearth in England 

1339 Drowning men will catch at a rush 

1340 Drown not thyself to save a drowning man 

1341 Drumming is not the way to catch an hare 

1342 Drunkards have a fool's tongue and a knave's heart 

1343 Drunkenness is a pair of spectacles to see the devil 

and all his works 

1344 Drunkenness makes men fools, some beasts, some. 

devils 

1345 Drunkenness turns a man out of himself, and leaves 

a beast in his room 



39 

1346 Ducks fare well in the Thames 

1347 Dumb folks get no land 

1348 Dying is as natural as living 

1349 Early ripe, early rotten 

1350 Early sow, early mow 

1351 Early up, and never the nearer 

1352 Easy it is to bowl down hill 

1353 Easier it is to fall than rise 

1354 Easier it is to pull down than build 

1355 Eat, and welcome ; fast, and heartily welcome 

1356 Eat peas with the king, and cherries with the beg- 

gar 

1357 Eat-well is drink-well's brother 

1358 Eaten bread is forgotten 

1359 Education begins a gentleman, conversation com- 

pletes him 

1360 Education polishes good natures, and correcteth bad 

ones 

1361 Eggs will be in three bellies in four and twenty hours 

1362 Either the hearer or relater of fopperies must be a 

fool 

1363 Emulation layeth up a grudge 

1364 Emulation is lively and generous, envy base and 

malicious 

1365 Empty hands allure no hawks 

1366 Empty vessels give the greatest sound 

1367 E'en venture on, as Johnson did on his wife 

1368 Enemies may serve for witnesses as well as friends 

may 

1369 England's the paradise of women and hell of 

horses 

1370 Enough's as good as a feast 

1371 Enough is a feast, too much a vanity 

1372 Enough to keep the wolf from the door 

1373 Enquire not what boils in another's pot 

1374 Enter upon love when you will, but give over 

when you can 

1375 Envy and covetousness are never satisfy'd 

1376 Env\ and idleness married together begot cu- 

riosity 

1377 Envy hath a leer of her father, the devil, but cruelty 

his very face 

1378 Envy is ashamed and afraid to be seen 



40 

1379 Envy is so shameful and cowardly a passion that 

nobody ever had the confidence to own it 

1380 Envy never yet enrich'd any man 

1381 Envy shooteth at others and woundeth herself 

1382 Error is always in haste 

1383 Error is endless 

1384 Error, though blind herself, yet sometimes bringeth 

forth seeing childen 

1385 Errors, in the first concoction, are hardly mended 

in the second 

1386 Eternity has no grey hairs 

1387 Even a child may beat a man that's bound 

1388 Even a fly hath its spleen 

1389 Even a piu is good for something, and that's more 

than you are 

1390 Even a Venice-glass, if well kept, will last long 

1391 Even an ass will not fail twice in the same quick- 

sand 

1392 Even an emmet may seek revenge 
1303 Even as the blind man shot the crow 

1394 Even covetous men have sometimes their intervals 

of generosity 

1395 Even doubtful accusations leave a stain behind 

them 

1396 Even fools sometimes speak shrewdly 

1397 Even sugar itself may spoil a good dish 

1398 Even ill luck itself is good for something in a wise 

man's hand 

1399 Even reckonings keep long friends 

1400 Even too much praise is a burthen 

1401 Evening oats are good morning fodder 

1402 Ever drink, ever dry 

1403 Every age confutes old errors, and begets new 

1404 Every ass loves to hear himself bray 

1405 Every ass thinks himself worthy to stand with 

the king's horses 

1406 Every bean hath its black 

1407 Every bird is known by its feathers 

1408 Every bird likes its own nest best 

1409 Every bird must hatch its own eggs 

1410 Every block will not make a Mercury 

1411 Every body's business is nobody's business 

1412 Every cock is proud on his own dunghill 

1413 Every day brings a new light 



41 

1414 Every dog is stout at bis own door 

1415 Every dog lias its day, and every man his hour 

1416 Every fool can find faults, that a great many wist 

men can't remedy 

1417 Every good scholar is not a good schoolmaster 

1418 Every heart hath its own ache 

1419 Every herring must hang by his own gills 

1420 Every horse thinks his own pack heaviest 

1421 Every man a little beyond himself is a fool 

1422 Every man doth his own business best 

1423 Every man for himself, and God for us all 

1424 Every man hath a fool in his sleeve 

1425 Every man hath his lot 

1426 Every man hath his own planet 

1427 Every man hath his weak side 

1428 Every man is a fool or a physician at forty 

1429 Every man is best known to himself 

1430 Every man is not born with a silver spoon in his 

mouth 

1431 Every man is the son of his own works 

1432 Every man living hath something to do 

1433 Every man must eat a peck of dirt before he dies 

1434 Every man's nose will not make a shooting-horn 

1435 Every man to his trade, quoth the boy to the bi- 

shop 

1436 Every man will shoot at the enemy, but few will 

gatber the shafts 

1437 Every may-be hath a may be not 

1438 Every miller draws the water to his own mill 

1439 Every monkey will have his gambols 

1440 Every monster bath its multitudes 

1441 Every mote doth not blind a man 

1442 Every one as they like, as the woman said when 

she kiss'd the cow 

1443 Every one can keep house better than her mother 

till she trieth 

1444 Every one can tame a shrew but he that has her 

1445 Every one hath a penny for a new alehouse 

1446 Every one is glad to see a knave caught in his own 

trap 

1447 Every one know's how to find fault 

1448 Every one lays his faults upon the times 

1449 Every one's faults are not written in their foreheads 

1450 Every one talks of what he loves 



42 

1451 Every one thinks he knows much 

1452 Every one thinks himself able to advise another 

1453 Everj path hath a puddle 

1454 Every penny that is taken is not clear gains 

1455 Every plummet is not for every sound 

1456 Every potter praises his own pot 

1457 Every reed will not make a pipe 

1458 Every scale hath its counterpoise 

1459 Every scrap of a wise man's time is worth saving 

1460 Ever} shoe fits not every foot 

1461 Every slip is not a fall 

1462 Every sow deserves not a sack posset 

1463 Ever}^ sparrow to its ear of wheat 

1464 Every sport now-a-days calls itself a herring 

1465 Ever} thing hath an end, and a pudding hath two 

1466 Every thing hath its time, and that time must be 

watched 

1467 Every thing is good in its season 

1468 Every thing is the worse for wearing 

1469 Every thing would live 

1470 Every tide will have an ebb 

1471 Every time the sheep bleats it loseth a mouthful 

1472 Every tub must stand upon its own bottom 

1473 Every tub smells of the wine it holds 

1474 Evil is soon believed 

1475 Examples are the best lessons for youth 

1476 Examples teach more than precepts 

1477 Excess of obligations may lose a friend 

1478 Exchange is no robbery 

1479 Experience is good if not bought too dear 

1480 Experience is the father of wisdom, and memory 

the mother 

1481 Experience is the great baffler of speculation 

1482 Experience is the mistress of fools 

1483 Experience perfects speculations 

1484 Experience teacheth fools ; and he is a great one, 

that will not learn by it 

1485 Eace to face, the truth comes out 

1486 Faint heart ne'er won fair lady 

1487 Faint praise is disparagement 

1488 Fair and foolish 

1489 Fair and softly goes far in a day 

1490 Fair faces need no paint 



43 

1491 Fair words fill not the belly, nor mind always 

1492 Fair words please fools 

1493 Faith sees bv the ears 

1494 Fail back, fall edge 

1495 Fame is a magnifying glass 

1496 Fame is a thin shadow of eternity 

1497 Fame is but the breath of the peopie, and that 

often unwholesome 

1498 Fame is in the keeping of the mob 

1499 Fancy may bolt bran, and think it flour 

1 500 F a n c y m ay kill or c a re 

1501 Fancy surpasses beauty 

1502 Far-fetched and dear-bought is good for ladies 
' 1503 Far from court, far from care 

1504 Farewell and be hanged; friends must part 

1505 Fat housekeepers make lean executors 

1506 Fat paunches make lean pates 

1507 Fat sorrow is better than lean sorrow 

1508 Fate leads the willing, but drives the stubborn 
.1509 Fathers, in reclaiming of a child, should outwit 

him. and seldom beat him 

1510 Faults of ignorance are excuseable only where the 

ignorance itself is so 

1511 Fear can keep a man out of danger, but courage 

only can support him in it 

1512 Fear is one part of prudence 

1513 Fear is stronger than love 

1514 Feather by feather the goose is plucked 

1515 Feasting makes no friendship 

1516 February makes a bridge, and March breaks it 

1517 Feed a pig, and you'll have a hog 

1518 Feeling hath no fellow 

1519 Felicity lies much in fancy 

1520 Felicity eats up nreum.spection 

1521 letters even of gold are heavy 

1522 Fetters of gold are still tetters, and silken cords 

pinch 

1523 lew are fit to be entrusted with themselves 

1524 Few dare write the true news of their chamber 

1525 Few hearts that are not double, few tongues that 

are not cloven 

1526 Few leaves, and bad fruit 

1527 Few men will be better than their interest bids 

them 



44 

1528 Few take wives for God's sake, or for fair looks 

1529 Few there are that will endure a true friend 

1530 Few things in the world will bear too much refining 

1531 Fie, fie! horse-play is not for gentlemen 

1532 Fields have eyes, and hedges ears 

1533 Fight dog, fight bear 

1534 Fine a poor man sixpence, and not a bottle of wine 

1535 Fine clothes oftentimes hide a base descent 

1536 Fine clothes wear soonest out of fashion 

1537 Fine cloth is never out of fashion 

1538 Fine dressing is usually a foul house swept before 

the door 

1539 Fire and water are good servants, but bad masters 

1540 Fire and water are not more necessary than friends 

are 

1541 Fire in flax will smoke 

1542 Fire, quoth the fox, when he pissed on the ic« 

1543 First come, first served 

1544 Fish and guests smell at three days old 

1545 Fish are not to be caught with a bird-call 

1546 1 ish make no broth 

1547 Fish ought to swim thrice 

1548 Fishes follow the bait 

1549 Flattery displays a braver flag than humility 

1550 Flatterers haunt not cottages 

1551 Flattery gets favour 

1552 Flattery sits in the parlour, when plain dealing is 

kicked out of doors 

1553 Flesh never stands so high but a dog will venture 

his legs 

1554 Flight towards preferment will be but slow without 

some golden feathers 

1555 Fling down the nests, and the rooks will be gone 

1556 Follow the river and you will get to sea 

1557 Folly and learning (such as it is) often dwell in the 

same person 

1558 Folly, as well as wisdom, is justified by its children 

1559 Folly is often sick of itself 

1560 Folly is never long pleased with itself 

1561 Folly is the product of all countries and ages 

1562 Folly is the queen regent of the world 

1563 Foolish fear doubleth danger 

1&64 Fools and madmen ought not to be left in their 
own company 



45 

1556 Fools and obstinate men make the lawyers rich 

1566 Fools and philosophers were made out of the same 

metal 

1567 Fools are all the world over, as he said that shod 

the goose 
1668 Fools are always resolute to make good their owu- 
folly 

1569 Fools are not to be convinced 

1570 Fools are pleased with their own blunders 

1571 Fools are wise men in Ihe affairs of women 

1572 Fool's bolt may sometimes hit the mark 

1573 Fools build houses, and wise men enjoy them 

1574 Fools grow without watering 

1575 Fool's haste is no speed 

1576 Fools have fortune 

1577 Fools make feasts, and wise men eat them 

1578 Fools may ask more in an hour than wise men can 

answer in seven 

1579 Fools may invent fashions that wise men will wear 

1580 Fools may sometimes give wise men counsel 

1581 Fools lade out all the water, and wise men take the 

fish 

1582 Fools set stools for wise men to stumble at 

1583 Fools tie knots, and wise men loose them 

1584 Fools will be meddling 

1585 Fools will not part with their bauble for all Lorn' 

bard Street 

1586 Foppish dressing tells the world the outside is the 

best of the puppet 

1587 Forbearance is no acquittance 
1583 Fore-cast is better than work-hard 

1589 Force without fore-cast is of little avail 

1590 For fashion's sake, as dogs go to church 

1591 Forget other's faults by remembering your own 

1592 Forgetting of a wrong is a mild revenge 

1593 For mad words deaf ears 

1594 For my own pleasure, as the man struck his wife 

1595 For one rich man that is content there are an 

hundred that are not 

1596 For want of a nail the shoe is lost; for want of a 

shoe the horse is lost ; for want of a horse the man 
is lost 
1507 For whom does the blind man's wife paint her- 
self? 



46 

1598 Fortune can take from us nothing but what she 

gave us 

1599 Fortune favours fools 

^ 1600 Fortune gives her hand to a bold man 

1601 Fortune is like the market, where many times, if 

you stay a little, the price will fall 

1602 Fortune is weary to carry one and the same man 

always 
^ 1603 Fortune often lends her smiles as churls do money, 
to undo the debtor 

1604 Fortune often rewards with interest those that have 

patience to wait for her 

1605 Fortune rarely brings good or evil singly 

1606 Four eyes see more than two 

1607 Foul water will quench fire 

1608 Foxes dig not their own holes 

1609 Foxes never fare better than when they are curst 

1610 Foxes prey farthest from their earths 

1611 Fraud and deceit are always in haste 

1612 Friends are not so seon got or recovered as lost 

1613 Friends are the nearest relations 

1614 Friends got without desert will be lost without 

cause 

1615 Friendship and company are a bad excuse for ill 

actions 

1616 Friendship and importunate begging feed not at 

the same dish 

1617 Friendship consists not in saying, What's the best 

news? 

1618 Friendship increases in visiting friends, but in visit- 

ing them seldom 

1619 Friendship is not to be bought at a fair 

1620 Friendship is the most sacred of all moral bonds 

1621 Friendship is the perfection of Jove 

1622 Friendships multiply joys, and divide griefs 

1623 Friendship that flames goes out in a flash 

1624 Friendship, the older it grows, the stronger it is 

1625 Friends may meet, but mountains never 

1626 Friends need no formal invitation 

1627 Frightening of a bird is not the way to catch it 

1628 From fame to infamy is a beaten road 

1629 From our ancestors come our names ; but from our 

virtues our honours 
3 630 Frost and fraud have foul ends 






47 

1631 Frugality is an estate alone 

1632 Fruit ripens not well in the shade 

1633 Full bellies make empty skulls 

1634 Full guts neither run away, nor fight well 

1635 Fall ol i . i a iU full of craft 

1636 Furniture and mane make the horse sell 

1637 Gadding gossips shall dine on the pot-lid 

1638 Gain got by a lie will horn brie's fii gers 

1639 Galled hors s can't endnn omb 

1640 Gall in mirth is an ill mixture, and sometimes truth 

is bitter 

1641 Game is cheaper in the market than in the fields 

and woods 

1642 Garlands are not for every brow 

1643 Gaudy slothful people are wasps, that eat up the 

bees honey 

1644 Gay cl( thing is the happiness of children and the 

weakest women 

1645 Geese with geese, and women with women 

1646 Generally we love ourselves more than we hate 

others 

1647 Gentry by blood is bodily gentry 

1648 Getting out well is a quarter of the journey 

1649 Gifts break a rock 

1650 Gifts from enemies are dangerous 

1651 Gifts make beggars bold 

1652 Give a dog an ill name, and his work is done 

1653 Give a man luck, and throw him into the sea 

1654 Give a poor man sixpence, and not a bottle of wine 

1655 Give even the devil his due 

1656 Give him an inch, and he'll take an ell 

1657 Give him but rope enough, and he'll hang himself 

1658 Give losers leave to speak, and winners to laugh 

1659 Give not pearls to the hogs 

1660 Give the piper a penny to play, and two-pence to 

leave off' 

1661 Giving is dead, and restoring is deadly sick 

1662 Glowing coals will be sparkling 

1663 Go farther, and fare worse 

1664 Go into the country to hear what news in town 

1665 Go steal an horse, and then you'll dfe without be- 

ing sick 

1666 Go to another door, for this will not be opened 



48 

1667 Goats are not sold at every fair 

1668 God defend me from the still water, and I'll keep 

myself from the rough 

1669 God gave him no children ; but the devil furnished 

him with abundance of bastards 

1670 God give me a rich husband, though he be an ass 

1671 God gives whole days to the fortunate, and but 

some hours to the unhappy 

1672 God giveth his wrath by weight, but his mercy 

without measure 

1673 God grant me to contend with those that under- 

stand me 

1674 God help the fool, quoth Pedley 

1675 God help the rich, the poor can beg 

1376 God is always at leisure to do good to those that 
ask it 

1677 God keep me from the man that hath but one thing 

to mind 

1678 God knows who are the best pilgrims 

1679 God made no body to forsake him 

1680 God makes, and apparel shapes, but its money 

that finishes the man 

1681 God never sends mouths but he sends meat 

1682 God permits the wicked ; but not for ever 

1683 God reaches us good things by our own hands 

1684 God save thee, and give thee a cloke 

1685 God's help is better than early rising 

1686 God send me a friend that will tell me of my faults 

1687 God sends cold after clothes 

1688 God sends meat, and the devil sends cooks 

1689 God send you more wit, and me more money 

1690 God who made the world so wisely, as wisely go- 

verns it 

1691 Gold and silver were mingled with dirt, till avarice 

parted them 

1692 Gold causeth strange disorders when it falls into a 

fool's hand 

1693 Gold is no balm to a wounded spirit 

1694 Gold, when present, causeth fear ; when absent, 

grief 

1695 Golden dreams make men awake hungry 

1696 Gone is the goose that the great e%g did lay 

1C97 Good actions are the best sacrifice we can offer t$ 
God. 



49 

1698 Good actions carry their warrant with them 

1699 Good and evil are chiefly in the imagination 

1700 Good at a distance, is better than evil at hand 
- 1701 Good bargains are pick-pockets 

1702 Good bees never turn to drones 

1703 Good blood makes poor pudding without suet 

1704 Good cheap, is dear at long run 
~ 1705 Good clothes open all doors 

1706 Good coral needs no colouring 
-1707 Good counsel makes a proud man and a fool angry 

1708 Good counsel never comes amiss 

1709 Good dancers have mostly better heels than heads 

1710 Good deeds remain, all things else perish 

1711 Good for the liver may be bad for the spleen 

1712 Good goose, don't bite 

1713 Good horses can't be of a bad colour 

J 714 Good jests bite like lambs, not like dogs 
1715 Good kings never make war, but for the sake of 
peace 
-1716 Good language cures great sores 

1717 Good luck reaches farther than long arms 

1718 Good men are a public good 

1719 Good men must die, but death cannot kill them 

quite 

1720 Good men want the laws for nothing but to defend 

themselves 

1721 Good nature is a great misfortune if it want pru- 

dence 

1722 Good nature is the proper soil upon which virtue 

grows 

1723 Good nature without prudence, is foolishness 

1724 Good neighbours and true friends are two things 

1725 Good offices are the cement of society 
J 726 Good paymasters need no security 

1727 Good paymasters need not bring a pawn 

1728 Good purposes should be the directors of good 

actions, not the apology for bad 

1729 Good swimmers are oftenest drowned 

1730 Good that comes too late, is as good as nothing 

1731 Good ware makes a quick market 

1732 Good wine needs no bush 

1733 Good wits jump 

1734 Good words cool more than cold water 

1735 Good words cost no more than bad 

1736 Good words cost nothing, but are worth much 

- D 



50 

1737 Good words fill not a sack 

1738 Good works will never save you ; but you can never 

be saved without them 

1739 Goods are iheirs only, who enjoy them 

1740 Goslins lead the geese to water 

1741 Gossiping and lying go together 

1742 Gossips and tale-bearers set afire all the houses they 

come into 

1743 Government of the will, is better than increase of 

knowledge 

1744 Grain by grain and the hen fills her belly 

1745 Grandfathers servants are never good 

1746 Grantham- giue\, nine grats in a gallon of water 

1747 Grasp no more than thy hand will hold 

1748 Gratefulness is the poor man's payment 

1749 Gratitude is the least of virtues, but ingratitude is 

the worst of vices 

1750 Gratitude preserves old friendship and procures 

new 

1751 Graves are of all sizes 

1752 Great and good are seldom the same man 

1753 Great braggers little doers 

1754 Great designs require great considerations 

1755 Great doings at Gregory's; heat the oven twice 

for a custard 

1756 Great gain makes work easy 

1757 Great guts, and small hopes 

1758 Great honours and avarice ilyone another 

1759 Great hopes make great men 

1760 Great marks arc soonest hit 

1761 Great men have more adorers than friends 

1762 Great mens vices are accounted sacred 

1763 Great minds and great fortunes don't always go to- 

gether 

1764 Great persons seldom see their face in a true glass 

1765 Great riches are of no real and substantial use 

1766 Great ships ask deep waters 

1767 Great solitude is a sort of madness 

1768 Great spirits are easy in prosperity and quiet in ad- 

versity 

1769 Great trees keep under the little ones 

1770 Great vices, as well as great virtues, make men fa- 

mous 

1771 Great wealth and content, seldom live together 



51 

1772 Great wealth makes us neither more wise nor more 

healthy 

1773 Great weight may hang on small -wires 

1774 Green wood makes hot fires 

1775 Grief pent up will burst the heart 

1776 Grief that gives way to verses is not very lamenta- 

ble 

1777 Grieving for misfortunes, is adding gall to worm- 

wood 

1778 Guests that come by day-light are best receiv'd 

1779 Guilt is always jealous 

1780 Hackney mistress hackney maid 

1781 Haifa loaf is better than no bread 

1782 Half an acre is good land 

1783 Half- witted fellows speak much and say little 

1784 Halt not before a cripple 

1785 Hang him that has no shifts, and hang him that has 

one too many 

1786 Hang not all your bells upon one horse 

1787 Happy is he that is happy in his children 

1788 Happy is lie that serveth the happy 

1789 Happy is he who hath sow'd his wild oats betimes 

1790 Happy in lie, whose friends were born before him 

1791 Happy is the child whose father went to the de\il 

1792 Happy is the man, who sees his faults in his youth 

1793 Happy is the man whose enemies have been in small 

matters 

1794 Happy men shall have many friends 

1795 Happiness generally depends more on the opinion 

we have of things, than on the things themselves 

1796 Hard fare makes hungry bellies 

1797 Hard with hard makes not the stone wall 

1798 Harrow hell, and rake up the devil 

1799 Harvest comes not every day, though it come every 

year 

1800 Harvest will come, and then every farmer's rich 

1801 Haste trips up its own heels 

1802 Hasty climbers have sudden falls 
18(J3 Hasty gamesters oversee themselves 

1804 Hasty glory goes out in a snuff 

1805 Hatred is blind as well as love 

1806 Have a care of a silent dog, and a still water 

1807 Have but few friends, though much acquaintance 

. d 2 



52 

1808 Have not thy cloke to make, when it begins to rata 

1809 He a soldier, and knows not onion-seed from gun- 

powder 

1810 He bears misery best, that hides it most 

181 1 He bears poverty very ill who is ashamed of it 

1812 He begs a blessing of a wooden god 

1813 He benefits himself that doth good to others 

1814 He bought the fox-skiu for three-pence, and sold 

the tail for a shilling 

1815 He builds cages fit for oxen to keep birds iu 

1816 He calls for a shoeing horn, to help on his gloves 

1817 He came safe from the East- Indies and was drown- 

ed in the Thames 

1818 He can never be God's martyr, that is the devil's 

servant 

1819 He cannot be good, that knows not why he is good 

1820 He cannot speak well, that cannot hold his tongue 

1821 He can swim without bladders 

1822 He can't demand a flitch of bacon at Dunmow 

1823 He cares not whose child cries, so his laugh 

1824 He carries too big a gun for me, I must not engage 

him 

1825 He changes his flag to conceal his being a pirate 

1826 He claws it as Clayton claw'd the pudding when he 

eat bag and all 

1827 He commands enough that obcyeth a wise man 

1828 He confesseth himself guilty, who refuseth to come 

to a trial 

1829 He covers me with his wings, and bites me with his 

bill 

1830 He could e'en cat my heart without salt 

1831 He cries wine, and sells vinegar 

1832 He dances merrily, whom fortune pipes to 

1833 He declares himself guilty, who justifies himself be- 

fore accusation 

1834 He deserves not sweet, that will not taste of sour 

1835 He deserves not good, that can away with bad 

1836 He did me as much good as if he had piss'd in my 

pottage 

1837 He does bounty an injury, who shews her so much 

as to be laughed at 

1838 He does not believe, that does not live according to 

his belief 
1S39 He doth much, that doth a thing well 



53 

1840 He drags his chain, and yet says 'tis others that are 

mad 

1841 He dwells far from neighbours, who is fain to praise 

himself 

1842 He eats in plate, but will die in irons 

1843 He eats the calf in the cow's belly 

1844 He lasts enough that has a bad meal 

1845 He fasts enough whose wife scolds all dinner-time 
1840 He frets like gum'd taffety 

1847 He gave him a thing of nothing, to hang upon his 

sleeve 

1848 He gets a double victory, who overcomes himself 

when he doth his enemy 

1849 He gives one knock on the iron and two on the an- 

vil 

1850 He goes a great voyage, that goes to the bottom of 

the sea 

1851 He goes not out of his way, that goes to a goodinn 

1852 He had better put his horns in his pocket than blow 

them 

1853 fie had need of a long spoon that sups with the 

devil 

1854 He had need rise betimes, who would please every 

body 

1855 He has a fair forehead to graff on 

1856 He has a great fancy to marry that goes to the de- 

vil f r a wife 

1857 He has a head as big as a horse, and brains as much 

as an ass 

1858 He has a hole under his cose that all his money 

runs into 

1859 He has a mouth for every matter 

1860 Me has an even hand to throw a louse into the fire 

1861 He has an ill look among iambs 

1862 He has as many tricks as a dancing bear 

1863 He has been out a hawki:ig lor bu terflies 

1864 He has brought up a bird to pick out his own eyes 

1865 He has but a short Lent that must pay money at 

Easter 

1866 He has but bad food that feeds upon the faults of 

others 

1867 He has drank more than lie has bled to-day 
3868 He has eat up the pot and asks for the pipkin 
1869 He has found a last for his shoe 

D 3 



54 

1870 He has good blood in him, but wants grotes to it 

1871 He has got the fiddle, but not the stick 

1872 He has great need of a wife that marries mamma's 

darling 

1873 He has more guts than brains 

1 874 He has more wit in his head than Sampson had in 

both his shoulders 

1875 He has most share in the wedding that lies with the 

bride 

1876 He has not lost all who has one cast left 

1877 He has nothing to eat, and yet invites guests 

1878 He has one face to God, and another to the devil 

1879 He has the Bible in his hand, and the Alcoran in 

his heart 

1 880 He has the greatest blind-side, who thinks he has 

none 

1881 He hath a colt's tooth yet in his old head 

1882 He hath a good judgment, that reliethnot wholly 

on his own 

1883 He hath been in the sun to-day, his face looks 

roasted 

1884 He hath conquer'd well that hath made his enemies 

fly 

1885 He hath cut both his legs, and cannot go nor stand 

1886 He hath fed too freely on a Neapolitan biscuit 

1887 He hath good cards to shew for it 

1888 He hath impudence to shew himself a fool 

1889 He hath left his purse in his other breeches 

1890 He hath liv'd ill that knows not how to die well 

1891 He hath made a good progress in a business, that 

hath thought well of it before-hand 

1892 He hath more faults than hairs, and more wealth 

than faults 

1893 He hath never a cross to bless himself withal 

1894 He hath no mean portion of virtue that loveth it in 

another 

1 895 He hath play'd a wily trick, and beguil'd himself 

1896 He hath profited well, that likes Cicero well 

1897 He hath slept well that remembers not that he hath 

slept ill 

1898 He hath slip'd a whiting 

1899 He hath some wit, but a fool hath the guidance of 

it 



DO 

1900 He hath stole a roll out of the brewer's basket 

1901 He hath swallow'd a stake, he cannot bow 

1902 He hath swallow'd a gudgeon 

1903 He hath ty'd a knot with his tongue, that he cannot 

untie with all his teeth 

1904 He injures a fair lady that beholds her not 

1905 He invites future injuries who rewards past ones 

1906 He is above his enemies that despises their injuries 

1907 He is a lion in a good cause 

1908 He is a more impudent thief that vobbeth openly 

than he that stealeth privately 

1909 He is a slave of the greatest slave, who serveth no- 

thing but himself 

1910 He is a very ill man, who retaineth not a secret re- 

verence for a good man 

1911 He is as hot as if he had a beilyfull of wasps and sa- 

lamanders 

1912 He is as much out of his element as an eel in a sand 

bag 

1913 He is desperate that thinks himself so 

1914 He is either a God or a painter; for he makes faces 

1915 He is false by nature that has a black head and a 

red beard 

1916 He is good as long as he's pleas'd, and so is the de- 

vil 

1917 He is handsome that handsome doth 

1918 He is happy that knoweth not himself to be other- 

wise 

1919 He is idle that might be better employed 

1920 He is ignoble, that disgraces his brave ancestors by 

a vicious life 

1921 He is in great danger, who being sick thinks him- 

self well 

1922 He is lifeless that is faultless 

1923 He is like a bell, that will go for every one that pulls 

it 

1924 He is miserable that dieth not before he desires to 

die 

1925 He is more noble that deserves, than he that confers 

benefits ' 

1926 He is my friend that succoureth me, not he that pi- 

tieth me 

1927 He is never alone who is accompanied with noble 

thoughts 

D 4 



56 

1928 He is no great heir that inherits not his ancestor* 

virtue 

1929 He is no wise man that cannot play the fool upon 

occasion 

1930 He is not a virtuous man that loveth it not even in 

an enemy 

1931 He is not born yet, and does he sneeze already 

1932 He is not charitable, that will not be so privately 

1933 He is not drunk gratis, who pays his reason for his* 

shot 

1934 He is not fit for riches, who is afraid to use them 

1935 He is not good himself, who speaks well of every 

body alike 

1936 He is not laughed at, that laughs at himself first 

1937 He is not poor that hath not much, but he that 

craves much 

1938 He is not so much worth as his ears full of water 

1939 He is not wise that is not wise for himself 

1940 He is one that will not lose his cap in a crowd 

1941 He is poor indeed that can promise nothing 

1942 He is rich enough that needeth neither flatter nor 

borrow r 

1943 He is rich that is satisfied 

1944 He is sillier than a crab that has all his brains in 

his belly 

1945 He is so poor that he has not salt to his porridge 

1946 He is so suspicious that he can't be got at without 

a stalking horse 

1947 He is so wary that he sleeps like a hare with his 

eyes open 

1948 He is the best gentleman that is the son of his own 

deserts 

1949 He is the sou of a batchelor 

1950 He is the wretch that does the injury, not he that 

endures it 

1951 He is timorous indeed that's afraid of a dead bee 

1952 He is unworthy to live who lives only for himself 

1953 He is well onward in the way of wisdom, who can 

bear a reproof and mend by it 

1954 He is wise that hath wit enough for his own affairs 

1955 He is wiser than most men are, who is honest 

1956 He is worth gold that carries it 

J 957 He kiUs a man that saves not his life when he can 
1958 He kiss'd and stabb'd at the same time 



57 

1059 He knows not a hawk from a hand-saw 
] 960 He knows not a pig from a dog 

1961 He knows which side of his hread is butter'd 

1962 He laughs ill that laughs himself to death 

1963 He leaps into a deep river to avoid a shallow brook 

1964 He lighted upon a lime twig 

1965 He lights his candle at both ends 

1966 He lives long that lives till all are weary of him 

1967 He lives longest that is awake most hours 

1968 He liveth long that liveth well 

1969 He loaths the spring head and drinks the foul 

stream 

1970 He looks as big as if he had eaten bull beef 

1971 He looks as though he had suck'd his dam through 

a hurdie 

1972 He looks like a sow saddled 

1973 He looks like a wild cat out of a bush 

1974 He looks like the devil over Lincoln 

1975 He loseth indeed that loseth at last 

1976 He loseth nothing that keepeth God for his friend 

1977 He loseth thanks that promiseih and delayeth 

1978 He loves bacon well that licks the sow's breech 

1979 He loves mutton well that eats the wool 

1980 He loves roast meat well that licks the spit 

1981 He loves you as a ferret does a rabbit, to make a 

meal of you 

1982 He makes a feint at the lungs, but lays his stroke on 

the head 

1983 He makes arrows of all sorts of wood 

1984 He may be trusted with a house full of mill stone* 

1985 He may find fault, but let him mend it if he can 

1986 He may make a wiii upon his nail for any thing he 

has to give 

1987 He may very well be contented that need not buy 

nor flatter 

1988 He mends like sour ale in summer 

1989 He merits no thanks that does a kindness for his 

own end 

1990 He must be a most sad fellow that nobody can please 

1991 He must have iron nails that scratcheth with a bear 

1992 He must have leave to speak, who cannot hold his 

tongue 

1993 He must needs go, whom the devil drives 
1904 He must not talk of running that cannot go 



58 

1995 He must stoop that hath a low door 

1996 He needs little adviee that is lucky 

1997 He neither ties nor unties 

1998 He never was good, neither egg nor bird 

1999 He never wrought a good day's work that went 

grumbling about it 

2000 He may hope for the best that's prepared for the 

Worst 

2001 He opens an oyster with a dagger 

2002 He passes sentence before he hears the evidence 

2003 He pins his faith upon another man's sleeve 

2004 He pitieth not the poor, who relieveth them not 

when he well may 

2005 He plays well that wins 

2006 He preaches well that lives well 

2007 He promises like a merchant-man, and pays like a 

man of war 

2008 He put a fine feather in his cap 

2009 He refuseth the bribe, but putteth forth his hand 

2010 He remembers his ancestors, but forgets to feed 

his children 

2011 He rode sure indeed, that never caught a fall in his 

life 

2012 He runneth far indeed that never returneth 

2013 He sail'd into Cornwall without a bark 

2014 He says any thing but his prayers, and them he 

whistles 

2015 He scap'd hemp, but deserv'd a wooden halter 

2016 He seemeth wise, with whom all things thrive 

2017 He sendcth to the East Indies for Kentish pippins 

2018 He set my house afire only to roast his eggs 

2019 He shall have enough to do, who studies to please 

fools 

2020 He signifies uo more than a blind cat in a barn 

2021 He sits up by moon-shine, and lies a bed in sun- 

shine 

2022 He skips like hail on a pack saddle 

2023 He sneaks as if he would creep into his mouth 

2024 He speaks as if every word would lift a dish 

2025 He speaks one word nonsense, and two that have. 

nothing in them 
20?6 He spent Michcelmas rent in Midsummer moon 

2027 He spits out secrets like hot custard 

2028 He steals a hog and gives away the feet in alms 

2029 He struck at Tib, but down fell Tim 



59 

2030 He sups ill, who eats up all at dinner 

2031 He takes in good counsel like cold porridge 

2032 He takes pepper in his nose 

2033 He talks in the bear garden tongue 

2034 He teaches me to be good that does me good 

2035 He teacheth ill that teacheth all 

2036 He tells me my way and don't know it himself 

2037 He that after sinning mends, recommends himself 

to God 

2038 He that always complains is never pitied 

2039 He that always fears dangers always feels it 

2040 He that always makes God's will his is never 

crossed 

2041 He that asketh a courtesy promiseth a kindness 

2042 He that asketh faintly beggeth a denial 

2043 He that banquets every day never makes a good 

meal 

2044 He that beareth a torch shadoweth himself to give 

light to others 

2045 He that bestoweth but a bone on thee would not 

have thee die 

2046 He that bites on every weed may light on poison 

2047 He that blows a trumpet at his alms is a Pharisee 

2048 He that blows in the dust fills his own eyes 

2049 He that boasteth of himself affronteth his company 

2050 He that boasteth of his ancestors, confesseth he hath 

no virtue of his own 

2051 He that boasts of his own knowledge proclaims his 

ignorance 

2052 He that bringeth a present findeth the door open 

2053 He that brings up his son to nothing breeds a thief 

2054 He that builds castles in the air will soon have no 

land 

2055 He that buycth magistracy must sell justice 

2056 He that buys and lies shall feel it in his purse 

2057 He that can abide a curst wife need not fear what 

company he liveth m 

2058 He that canuot abide a bad market deserves not a 

good one 

2059 He that cannot conceal his own shame will not con- 

ceal another's 

2060 He that can read and meditate, need not think the 

evenings long, or life tedious 

2061 He that can reply calmly to an angry man is too hard 

for him 



60 

2062 He that can't ride a gentle horse, must not attempt 

to back a mad colt 

2063 He that casteth all doubts shall never be resolved 

2064 He that ceaseth to be a friend never was a good one 

2065 He that chastiseth one amendeth many 

2066 He that cheateth in small things is a fool, but in 

great things is a rogue 

2067 He that comes after, sees with more eyes than his 

own 

2068 He that commandeth well shall be obeyed well 

2069 He that contemplates on his bed hath a day with- 

out a night 

2070 He that converses not, knows nothing 

2071 He that considers in prosperity, will be less afflicted 

in adversity 

2072 He that cuts himself wilfully deserves no balsam 

2073 He that dallies with his enemy gives him leave to 

kill him 

2074 He that dares not venture must not complain of ill 

luck 

2075 He that deals with a senseless man had need of a 

good deal of sense 

2076 He that defends an injury is next to him that com- 

mits it 

2077 He that desires but little has no need of much 

2078 He that despises shame wants a bridle 

2079 He that died half a year ago is as dead as Adam 

2080 He that dies troubles his parents but once, but he 

that lives ill torments them perpetually 

2081 He that dies young has made a quick voyage of it 

2082 He that does any thing for the public is accounted 

to do it for nobody 

2083 He that does not love a woman, sucked a sow 

2084 He that does not speak truth to me does not believe 

me when I speak truth 

2085 He that does you a very ill turn will never forgive 

you 

2086 He that docth his own business, hurteth not his 

hand 

2087 He that doth a good turn looketh for a good turn 

2088 He that doth good for praise only, meriteth bnt a 

pulf of \wi:d 

2089 He that doth not as he ought, must not look to be , 

done to as he would 



61 

2090 He that doth well wearieth not himself 

2091 He that doth what he will, oft doth not what he 

ought 

2092 He that eats most porridge shall have most meat 

2093 He that eats the king's geese shall be choak'd with 

the feathers 

2094 He that eats till he is sick must fast till he is well 

2095 He that eats well and drinks well, should do his 

duty well 

2096 He that falls in the dirt, the longer he lies the dirtier 

he is 

2097 He that falls to day may be up again to-morrow 

2098 He that feareth every bush must never go a birding 

2099 He that tears danger in time seldom feels it 

2100 He that fears not the future may enjoy the present 

2101 He that fears you present will hate you absent 

2102 He that feastoth a flatterer and a slanderer, dineth 

with two devils 

2103 He that feeds upon charity has a cold dinner and 

no supper 

2104 He that finds a thing steals it if he endeavours not to 

restore it 

2105 He that first came is not sure to be first serv'd 

2106 He that flatters himself in sciences, and grows worse 

in morals, makes no improvement 

2107 He that flings dirt at another dirtieth himself most 

2108 He that follows nature is never out of his way 

2109 He that gets an estate will probably never spend it 

2110 He that gives himself kave to | lay with his neigh- 

bour's fame, may soon plaj it away 

2111 He that gives his heart will not deny his money 

2112 He that gives time to resolve, gives time to deny, 

and warning to prevent 

2113 He that gives to a grateful man puts out to usury 

2114 He that gives to a worthy persou bestows a benefit 

upon himself 

2115 He that gives to be seen would never relieve a man 

in the dark 

2116 He that giveth customarily to the vulgar buyeth 

trouble 

2117 He that giveth to a good man selleth well 

2118 He that goes a great way for a wife is either cheat- 

ed or means to cheat 



62 

2119 He that goes continually abroad a borrowing, shews 

he has little at home of his own 

2120 He that goes the contrary way must go it over twice 

2121 He that goes to church with an ill intention goes to 

God's house on the devil's errand 

2122 He that goes to church with brothers-in-law, comes 

back without kindred 

2123 He that grasps at too much holds nothing fast 

2124 He that gropes in the dark finds what he would not 

2125 He that groweth worse was never good 

2126 He that handles a nettle tenderly is soonest stung 

2127 He that handles pitch shall foul his fingers 

2128 He that handles thorns shall smart for it 

2129 He that has a great nose thinks every body is 

speaking of it 

2130 He that hath a mouth of his own should not say to 

another, blow r 

2131 He that has a sword, and goes home to fetch a bet- 

ter, never comes again 

2132 He that has an hundred and one, and owes an hun- 

dred and two, the Lord have mercy upon him 

2133 He that has an ill name is half hang'd. 

2134 He that has but four, and spends five, has no need 

of a purse 

2135 He that has but one coat cannot lend it 

2136 He that has but one eye had need look well to that 

2137 He that has but one eye is a prince among those 

that have none 

2138 He that has but one hog, makes him fat, and he that 

has but one son, makes him a fool 

2139 He that lias feather'd his nest may fly when he will 

2140 He that has led a wicked life is afraid of his own me- 

mory 

2141 He that has most time has none to lose 

2142 He that has lost his credit is dead to the world 

2143 He that has no charity merits no mercy 

2144 He that has no fools, knaves, nor beggars in his fa- 

mily, was begot by a flash of lightning 

2145 He that has no head deserves not a laced hat 

2146 He that has no heart ought to have heels 

2147 He that has no modesty has all the town for his own 

2148 He that has no shame has no conscience 

2149 He that has no silver in his purse, should have silver 

on his tongue 



63 

2150 He that has nothing is frighted at nothing 

2151 He that has nothing to spare must not keep a dog 

2152 He that has purchas'd the devil mus 4 make the 

most of him 

2153 He that has the worst cause makes the most noise 

2154 He that has too little, wants wings to fly, he that has 

too much, is incumbred with his large tail 

2155 He that hath a head of wax must not walk in the 

sun 

2156 He that hath a white horse and a fair wife, never 

wants trouble 

2157 He that hath a wife and children wants no busi- 

ness 

2158 He that hath a wife and children must not sit with 

his fingers in his mouth 

2159 He that hath good corn may be content with some 

thistles 

2160 He that hath love in his breast hath spurs at his 

heels * 

2161 He that hath some land must have some labour 

2162 He that hath time, and looketh for a better time, 

loseth time 

2163 He that helpeth the evil hurteth the good 

2164 He that hews above his height may have chips in 

his eyes 

2165 He that hoardeth up money taketh pains for other 

men 

2166 He that hopes no good fears no ill 

2167 He that hinders not a mischief when it is in his 

power is guilty of it 

2168 He that hunts after vanity shall take vexation 

2169 He that is a cuckold, and allows it, may be so for 

ever 

2170 He that imagines he hath knowledge enough hath 

none 

2171 He that is busy is tempted but by one devil ; he that 

is idle, by a legion 

2172 He that is carried down the torrent catcheth at 

every thing 

2173 He that is dispos'd for mischief will never want oc- 

casion 

2174 He that is drunk is gone from home 

2175 He that is every where is no where 

2176 He that is grateful would recompence if he could 



64 

2177 He that is heady is ruled by a fool 

2178 He that is innocent may well be confident 

2179 He that is kinder than he was wont, hath a design 

upon thee 

2180 He that is known to have no money has no friends 

nor credit 

2181 He that is master of himself will soon be master of 

others 

2182 He that is needy when he is married, shall scarce 

be rich when he is buried 

2183 He that repents here, shall rejoice hereafter 

2184 He that is not above an injury is below himself 

2185 He that is not company proof will be ensnar'd in 

company 

2186 He that is not sensible of his loss has lost nothing 

2187 He that is only his own pupil shall have a fool to 

his tutor 

2188 He that is open to flattery is fenc'd against admonition 

2189 He that is poor all his kindred scorn him, he that is 

rich all are kin to him 

2190 He that is presently deny'd is least deceiv'd 

2191 He that is proud of his fine clothes fetches his repu- 

tation from his tailor 

2192 He that is shameless is graceless 

2193 He that is too busy in mending and judging of 

others will never be good himself 

2194 He that is too proud to ask is too good to receive 

2195 He that is too secure is not safe 

2196 He that is thrown would ever wrestle 

2197 He that is uneasy at every little pain is never with- 

out some ache 

2198 He that is well and ventures to be ill, deserves no 

pity when it happens 

2199 He that is well shelter'd is a fool if he stir out into 

the rain 

2200 He that is without money is a bird without wings 

2201 He that is won with a nut may be lost with an apple 

2202 He that keeps malice harbours a viper in his breast 

2203 He that keeps up his riches and li\es poorly, is like 

an ass that carries gold, and eats thistles 

2204 He that kills a man when he's chunk must be 

hang'd when he's sober 

2205 He that kisseth bis wife in the market-place, shall 

have enough to teach him 



65 

2206 He that knoweth useful things, not he that know* 

man} 7 things, is the wise man 

2207 He that knows how to waste finds every thing to 

his purpose 

2208 He that knows least commonly presumes most 

2209 He that knows little often repeats it 

2210 He that knows not how to hold his tongue know* 

not how to talk 

2211 He that labours and thrives spins gold 

2212 He that laughs when he's alone will make sport in 

company 
2233 He that leaves the highway to cut short commonly 
goes about 

2214 He that lets his fish escape into the water, may cast 

his net often, yet never catch it again 

2215 He that licks honey from a nettle pays too dear for 

it 

2216 He that lies down with the dogs must rise with the 

fleas 

2217 He that lieth upon the ground can fall no lower 

2218 He that listens after what people say of him shall 

never have peace 

2219 He that lives a knave will hardly die an honest man 

2220 He that lives long suffers much 

2221 He that lives not well one year, sorrows for it seven 

2222 He that lives on hope has hut a slender diet 

2223 He that lives with the muses shall die in the straw 

2224 He that liveth in hope danceth without a riddle 

2225 He that looks for a requital, serves himself", not me 

2226 He that looks too nicely into things never ii^ es easy 

2227 He thatloseth his wealth is wanted to have lost bis 

wits 

2228 He that loseth his wife and sixpence hath lost a tes- 

ter 

2229 He that loves himself too much loves an ill man 

2230 He that makes a good war makes a good peace 

2231 He that makes a question where there is no doubt, 

must make an answer where there is no reason 
2231 He that makes himself an ass, must not take it ill 
if men ride him 

2233 He that makes his bed ill must be contented to lie ill 

2234 He that makes one basket may make an hundred 

2235 He that makes the shoe can't tan the leather 



m 

2236 He that maketh a fire of straw hath much smoke, 

and but little warmth 

2237 He that marries a wife and three children marries 

four thieves 

2238 He that marrieth for wealth sells his liberty 

2239 He that mindeth not his own business shall never 

be trusted with mine 

2240 He that never took oar in hand, must not think 

scorn to be taught 

2241 He that nothing questioneth nothing learneth 

2242 He that overcomes his passions overcomes his great- 

est enemies 

2243 He that overfeeds his senses feasteth his enemies 

2244 He that passeth a judgment as he runs overtaketh 

repentance 

2245 He that payeth beforehand shall have his work ill 

done 

2246 He that pays last never pays twice 

2247 He that payeth another remembereth himself 

2248 He that plants trees loves others besides himself 

2249 He that praiseth bestows a favour, he that detracts 

commits a robbery 

2250 He that praiseth publicly will slander privately 

2251 He that preacheth up war, when it might well be 

avoided, is the devil's chaplain 

2252 He that prepares for ill, gives the blow a meeting, 

and breaks its stroke 

2253 He that promises too much means nothing 

2254 He that protects an ill man may live to repent of it 

2255 He that pryeth into the clouds may be struck with 

a thunderbolt 

2256 He that punishes another in anger shall feel it him- 

self when the fit is over 

2257 He that puts on a public gown must put off a private 

person 

2258 He that reckoneth before his host, must reckon 

again 

2259 He that regardeth not his reputation despiseth vir- 

tue 

2260 He that regards not a penny will lavish a pound 

2261 He that refuses praise the first time does it because 

he would have it the second 

2262 He that remembers his virtues too much, bids others 

hink of his vices 



67 

2263 He That repents of a fault upon right grounds, is 

almost innocent 

2264 He that repents of his own act, either is, or was 

a fool, by his own confession 

2265 He that requites a benefit pays a great debt 

2266 He that resisteth his own evil inclinations, obevs 

God 

2267 He that resolves to deal with none but honest men, 

must leave oft' dealing 

2268 He that returns a good for evil obtains the victory 

2269 He that rewards flattery, begs it 

2270 He that rides behind another, must not think to 

guide 

2271 He that runs in the dark may well stumble 

2272 He that runs may rally 

2273 He that runs out by extravagancy, must retrieve 

by parsimony 

2274 He that's afraid of every nettle must not piss in the 

grass 

2275 He that's afraid to do good would be ill if he durst 

2276 He that's always shooting, must sometimes hit 

2277 He that's angry without a cause must be pleased 

without amends 

2278 He that's a wise man by day is no fool by night 

2279 He that's born to be hanged shall never be 

drowned 

2280 He that's carried down the stream needs not row 

2281 He that's cheated twice by the same man is an ac- 

complice with the cheater 

2282 He that's down, down with him, cries the world 

2283 He that's full, takes no care for him that's fasting 

2284 He that's ill to himself will be good to nobody 

2285 He that's killed by a cannon, was cm s'd in his mo- 

ther's boil v 

2286 He that's maimed with boys, and horsed with colts, 

shall have his meat eaten, and his work undone 

2287 He that's not handsome at 20, strong at 30, wise 

at 40, rich at 50, will never be handsome, strong, 
wise, or rich 

2288 He that saveth his dinner will have the more for 

supper 

2289 He that seattereth thorns must not go barefoot 

2290 He that, scoffs at the crooked had need go very ap* 

right himself 



68 

2291 He that seeketh trouble never misseth ofit 

2292 He that seeks danger perisheth therein unpitied 

2293 He that serveth the devil hath an hard service of it 

2294 He that serves at the altar ought to live by the 

altar 

2295 He that serves every body is paid by no body 

2296 He that serves well need not be afraid to ask his 

wages 

2297 He that sets his net betimes, may expect a fuller 

draught than he that fishes later 

2298 He that sharply chides is the most ready to pardon 

2299 He that shewed] his wealth to a thief is the cause 

of his own pillage 

2300 He that shews a passion, tells his enemy where he 

may hit him 

2301 He that shews his purse, longs to be rid ofit 

2302 He that sins that he may repent, surfeits that he 

may take a vomit 

2303 He that sits to work in the market-place shall have 

many teachers 

2304 He that slights his enemy, dies by his hand 

2305 He that sows in the highway tires his oxen, and 

loseth his corn 

2306 He that sows iniquity shall reap sorrow 

2307 He that sows thistles shall reap prickles 

2308 He that spares the bad injures the good 

23(9 He that speaks iil of his wife dishonoured] himself 

2310 He that speaks, sows ; he that hears, reaps 

2311 He that speaks without care, shall remember with 

sorrow 

2312 He that spends to his proportion is as brave as a 

prince, and a prince exceeding that is a prodigal 

2313 He that spends without regard shall want without 

P'ty 

2314 He that stays in the valley shall never get over the 

hill 

2315 He that steals can hide 

2316 He that stumbles, and falls not quite, gains a step 

2317 He that stumbles twice at the same stone, deserves 

to have his shins broke 

2318 He that strikes my dog, would strike me if ho 

durst 

2319 He that strikes with his tongue must ward with his 

head 



69 

2320 He that sweareth falsely denieth God 

2321 He that swells in prosperity will shrink in ad- 

versity 

2322 He that sups upon salad goes not to bed fasting 

2323 He that takes a wife at Shrewsbury, must carry her 

to Staffordshire, or else she'll drive him to Cuw- 
berland 

2324 He that takes not up a pin slights his wife 

2325 He that takes pet at a feast loses it all 

2326 He that takes the devil into his boat must carry 

him over the sound 

2327 He that takes too great a leap falls into the ditch 

2328 He that talks to himself, talks to a fool 

2329 He that tells a lie buffeteth himself 

2330 He that tells his wife, is but lately married 

2331 He that the devil drives feels no lead at his heels 

2332 He that thinks himself a cuckold carries live coals 

in his heart 

2333 He that thinks his business below him, will always 

be above his business 

2334 He that ties up another man's dog shall have no- 

thing left but the line 

2335 He that travels much knows much 

2336 He that trusteth to the world is sure to be de- 

ceived 

2337 He that trusts to borrowed ploughs will have his 

land lie fallow 

2338 He that waits for dead men's shoes may go bare- 

foot 

2339 He that waits upon another's trencher, makes many 

a little dinner 

2340 He that walketh with the virtuous is one of them 

2341 He that wants business may fit out a ship, or take 

a wife 

2342 He that wants hope is the poorest man alive 

2343 He that wants money is accounted among those 

that want wit 

2344 He that was born under a three-half-penny planet 

shall never be worth two-pence 

2345 He that weighs the wind must have a steady hand 

2346 He that will conquer must fight 

2347 He that will enter paradise must come with a right 

key 

2348 He that will have the kernel must crack the shell 



70 

2349 He that will not bear the itch mast endure the 

smart 

2350 He that will not be counselled cannot be helped 

2351 He that will not be saved needs no sermon 

2352 He that will not live a saint can never die a martyr 

2353 He that will not sail till all dangers are over, must 

never put to sea 

2354 He that will not sail till he have a full fair wind 

will lose many a voyage 

2355 He that will not stoop for a pin shall never be 

worth a point 

2356 He that will not suffer evil must never think of pre- 

ferment 

2357 He that will outwit the fox must rise betimes 

2358 He that will sell lawn must learn to fold it 

2359 He that worketh wickedness by another is wicked 

himself 

2360 He that works journey-work with the devil, shall 

never want work 

2361 He that worst may, still holds the candle 

2362 He that would hang his dog gives out first that he 

is mad 

2363 He that would have a bad morning may w r alk out 

in a fog after a frost 

2364 He that would have a bad night may injure his 

conscience that day 

2365 He that would have a hare for his breakfast must 

hunt over night 

2366 He that would have the fruit must climb the tree 

2367 He that would know what shall be, must consider 

what hath been 

2368 He that would learn to pray, let him go to sea 

2369 He that would rightly understand a man, must 

read his whole story 

2370 He that would thrive by law must see his enemy's 

counsel as well as his own 

2371 He thought to have turned iron into gold, and he 

turned gold into iron 

2372 He threatens many that is injurious to one 

2373 He toucheth it as warily as a cat doth a coal of fire 

2374 He travelled with Mandevile 

2375 He useth the rake more than the fork 

2376 He wants nothing now, but the itch, to scratch 

2377 He was born within the sound of Boiir bell 



. 71 

2378 He was scarce of news, who told that his father 

was hanged 

2379 He who beggeth for others is contriving for himself 

2380 He who cannot counterfeit a friend, can never be a 

very bad enemy 

2381 He who cometh in late has an ill lodging 

2382 He who fasteth and doeth no good, saveth his 

bread, but loseth his soul 

2383 He who findeth fault meaneth to buy 

2384 He who greases his wheels helps his oxen 

2385 He who has but one eye is always wiping it 

2386 He who hath a trade hath a share every where 

2387 He who hath bitter in his breast spits not all sweet 

2388 He who hath money and capers, is provided for 

Lent 

2389 He who imparts wisdom to another purifies and 

exalts his own mind 

2390 He, who is ashamed of his calling, ever liveth 

shamefully in it 

2391 He who is born a fool is never cured 

2392 He, who is not lucky, let him not go a fishing 

2393 He, who is the offender, is never the forgiver 

2394 He, who is wanting but to one friend, loseth a great 

many by it 

2395 He, who killeth a lion when absent, feareth a mouse 

when present 

2396 He, who laugheth too much, hath the nature of a 

fool ; he that laugheth not at all hath tiie nature 
of an old cat 

2397 He, who owes an hundred, and has an hundred and 

one, fears nobody 

2398 He who oweth is in all the wrong 

2399 He, whose belly is full, believes not him whose is 

empty 

2400 He, whose father is judge, goes safe to his trial 

2401 He, who plants a walnut-tree, expects not to eat of 

the fruit 

2402 He, who sets one foot in a bawdy-house, claps 

t'other in an hospital 

2403 He, who shareth honey with the bear, hath the 

least part of it 

2404 He, who sleepeth all the morning, may go a beg- 

ging all the day after 

2405 He, who threateneth, hunteth after a revenge 



72 

2406 He who trustcth not is not deceived 

2407 He, who trusts all things to chance, makes a lottery 

of his life 

2408 He. who wants content, can't find an easy chair 

2409 He, who was never sick, dies the first fit 

2410 He will ill catch a bird flying, that cannot keep his 

own in a cage 

2411 He will never get to heaven that desires to go 

thither alone 

2412 He will not give the way, even to a blind man 

2413 He will shoot higher, that shoots at the moon, 

than he that shoots at a dunghill, though he miss 
the mark 

2414 He would be quarter-master at home if his wife 

would let him 

2415 He would fain fly, but wants feathers 

2416 He would find waters with the first stroke of his 

spade - 

2417 He would live, even in a gravel pit 

2418 He would not leud his knife, no not to the devil, 

to stab himself 

2419 He wounded a dead man to the heart 

2420 He wrongs not an old man who steals his supper 

from him 

2421 He'll as soon eat sand as do a good turn 

2422 He'll bring buckle and thong together 

2423 He'll dance to nothing but his own pipe 

2424 He'll eat till he sweats, and work till he freezes 

2425 He'll find money for mischief, when he can find 

none for corn 

2426 He'll ne'er do right nor suffer wrong 

2427 He'll ne'er get a pennyworth that is afraid to ask a 

price 

2428 He'll never have enough till his mouth is full of 

mould 

2429 He'll rather die with thirst, than take the pains te 

draw water 

2430 He'll soon be a beggar that can't say nay 

2431 He'll swear the devil out of hell 

2432 He'll turn rather than burn 

2433 He's a blockhead that can't make two verses, and 

he's a fool that makes four 

2434 He's a fool that is not melancholy once a day 

2435 He's a fool that is wiser Abroad than at home 



73 

2436 He's a friend at a sneeze, the most you can get of 

him is a God bless you 

2437 He's a friend to none that is a friend to all 

2438 He's a good man whom fortune makes better 

2439 He's a hawk of the right nest 

2440 He's a hot shot in a mustard-pot with his heels up- 

right 

2441 He's a little fellow, but every bit of that little is bad 

2442 He's a pretty fellow of an orator that makes pane- 

gyrick of himself 

2443 He's a proud fox that will not dig his own hole 

2444 He's a puddled stream from a pure spring 

2445 He's a slave, that cannot command himself 

2446 He's a thief, for he has took a cup too much 

2447 He's a wise man that leads passion by the bridle 

2448 He's an excellent man that can wear poverty de- 

cently 

2449 He's an ill boy that goes like a top, no longer than 

'tis wipt 

2450 He's an ill cook that can't lick his own fingers 

2451 He's an ill man that takes by force w hen he can 

have freely 

2452 He's as brisk as bottled ale 

2453 He's as sharp asifheliv'd upon TewJi$bu?*y-mus- 

tard 

2454 He's at a great loss for jests that is fore'd to rake 

hell for them 

2455 He's born in a good hour who gets a good name 

2456 He's drinking at the harrow when he should be 

driving his plough 

2457 He's dwindled down from a pot to a pipkin 

2458 He's in great want of a bird that w ill give a groat 

for an owl 

2459 He's like a bagpipe ; vou never hear him till his bel- 

ly is full 

2460 He's like a fox, grey before he is good 

2461 He's like Garby, whose soul neither God nor the de- 

vil would have 

2462 'tie's madder than mad, who selleth heaven for earth 

2463 He's miserable indeed that must lock up his mise- 

ries x 

2464 He's my frieud that grindeth at my mill 

2405 He's my friend that speaks well of me behind my 
back 

- E 



74 

2466 He's not honest whom the lock only makes honest 

2467 He's not the best carpenter that makes the most 

chips 

2468 He's not ungrateful that cannot; but he that will 

not repay 

2469 He's overshot in his own bow 

2470 He's poor indeed whom God hates 

2471 He's so covetous, that he'll not give even a cup of 

cold water 

2472 He's so full of himself that he is quite empty 
2173 He's so great a thief, that he stole even a piece of 

a halter from the gallows 

2474 He's so much a thief that he'll steal away even the 

commandments 

2475 He's wise that knows when he's well enough 

2476 He's won with a feather and lost with a straw 

2477 Health is great riches 

2478 Health is not valued till sickness comes 

2479 Health without wealth is half a sickness 

2480 Hearts may agree, though heads differ 

2481 Heaven is a cheap purchase whatever it cost 

2482 Heaven is worth the whole world 

2483 Heaven will make amends for all 

2484 Heaven without good society cannot be heaven 

2485 Hedgehogs lodge among thorns,because themselves 

are prickly 

2486 Hell and chancery are always open 

2487 Hell is full of good meanings and wishes, but hea- 

ven is full of good works 

2488 Hell is full of the ungrateful 

2489 Hell is wherever heaven is not 

2490 Help the lame dog over the style 

2491 Her hands are on the wheel, but her eyes are in the 

street 

2492 Her pulse beats matrimony 

2493 Her shoulder is with child 

2494 Her tongue steals away all the time from her hands 

2495 Here 1 left a needle, and here 1 will mid it 

2496 Here if you beat a bush, its odds but you start a thief 

2497 Here's talk of the Turk and Pope, but its my next 

neighbour that does me the harm 

2498 Hertfordsh ire kindness 

2499 High buildings have a low foundation 

2500 High-flying hawks are fit for princes 



75 

2501 High places have their precipices 

2502 High winds blow on high hills 

2503 High ways and streets have not all the thieves, 

shops have ten for one 

2504 His brain is not big enough for his skull 

2505 His brains want no barm to make them work 

2506 His cart is full 

2507 His clothes are worth an hundred pounds, but his 

wit is dear of a groat 

2508 His learning overbalanced his brain ; and so is a 

burthen 

2509 His lungs are very sensible, for ever} 7 thing makes 

them laugh 

2510 His milk boil'd over 

2511 His mill will go with all winds 

2512 His promises are lighter than the breath that utters 

them 

2513 His purse and his palate are ill met 

2514 His shoes are made of running leather 

2515 His tongue goes always of errands, but never 

speeds 

2516 His tongue isas cloven as the devil's foot 

2517 His tongue is no slander 

2518 Hoist vour sail when the wind is fair 

2519 Hold fast an eel with a fig-leaf 

2520 Hold fast is the first point in hawking 

2521 Hold your tongue, husband, let me talk that have 

all the wit 

2522 Holding an eel too fast is the way to let her escape 

2523 Home is home, be it never so homely 

2524 Honest is the cat when the meat is upon the hook 

2525 Honest men and knaves may possibly wear the 

same cloth 

2526 Honest men are justified by the light 

2527 Honest men are soon bound, but you can never 

bind a knave 

2528 Honest men fear neither the light nor the dark 

2529 Honest men never have the love of a rogue 

2530 Honest mens words are as good as their bonds 

2531 Honest millers have golden thumbs 

2532 Honesty and plain dealing puts knavery out of the 

bias 

2533 Honesty is a fine jewel, but much out of fashion 

2534 Honesty is the best policy 

E2 



76 

2535 Honesty may be dear bought, but can never be a 

dear pennyworth 

2536 Honesty now-a-days wants a guard 

2537 Honey is not for the ass's mouth 

2538 Honey is sweet, but the bee stings 

2539 Honey is too good for a bear 

2540 Honour and ease are seldom bedfellows 

2541 Hope is a good breakfast, but a bad supper 

2542 Hope is as cheap as despair 

2543 Hope is worth any money 

2544 Hope keeps a man from hanging and drowning 

himself 

2545 Hope well and have well quoth Hicktvell 

2546 Hopes and fears chequer human life 

2547 Hopes delayed hang the heart upon tenterhooks 

2548 Hopes of pardon mend not, but encourage crimi- 

nals 

2549 Hot love is soon cold 

2550 Hot men harbour no malice 

2551 Hot sup, hot swallow 

2552 Hours of pleasure are short 

2553 How can the cat help it, if the maid be a fool? 

2554 How can the foal amble when the horse and mare 

trot 

2555 How can you think yourself the wiser for pleasing 

fools 

2556 How difficult a thing it is to persuade most men 

to be happy ! 

2557 How happy is he, that owes nothing but to him- 

self! 

2558 How many deaths must he die, that lives till he de- 

sires to die 

2559 How many things hath he to repent of that lives 

long 

2560 Human blood is all of one colour 

2561 Human inventions are no essential parts of divine 

worship 

2562 Human laws reach not thoughts 

2563 Humility will exalt you, though sheepishness will 

not 

2564 Hunger cannot bear contradiction 

2565 Hunger fetches the wolf out of the woods 
25.66 Hunger finds no fault with the cookery 
2567 Hunger is not dainty 



77 

2568 Hunger is riot satisfied with wise sentences 

2569 Hunger is the best sauce 

2570 Hunger makes raw beans relish well 

2671 Hunger scarce kiils any, but gluttony and drunk- 
enness multitudes 

2572 Hunger will break through stone walls 

2573 Hungry dogs will eat dirty puddings 

2574 Hungry horses make a clean manger 

2575 Hungry men think the cook lazy 

2576 Him ting has as much pain as pleasure 

2577 Husband, don't belies e what you see, but what I 

tell you 

2578 Husband, you are a cuckold ; wife, who told you 

so? 

2579 Husbands are in heaven, whose wives chide not 

2580 Hypocrisy is a sort of homage, that vice pays to 

virtue 

2581 Hypocrites are a sort of creatures that God never 

made 

2582 Hypocritical honesty goes upon stilts » 

2583 Hypocritical piety is double iniquity 

2584 I am as full as a jade, quoth the bride 

2585 I am not sorry that my son loses at play, but that 

he will seek his revenge 

2586 I am talking of hay, and you of horse beans 

2587 I ask for a fork, and you bring me a rake 

2588 I cannot be at YoiU and London at the same time 

2589 I cannot believe you, you speak so fair 

2590 I cannot run and sit still at the same time 

2591 I cannot spin and weave at the same time 

2592 I can't be your friend and your flatterer too 

2593 I deny that with both my hands, and all my teeth 

2594 I do not hear that a bribe on both sides is out of 

fashion 

2595 I gave you a stick to break my own head with 

2596 I had no thought of catching you, when 1 fished for 

another 

2597 1 had rather be fed with jack-boots, than with such 

stories 

2598 I had rather my cake burn, than you should turn it 

2599 1 have a crow to pluck with you 

2600 I have a cold coal to blow at 

2601 I have a good bow, but I can't come at it 

* E 3 



78 

2602 T have a good cloak, but 'tis in France 

2603 I have a tangled skain of it to wind off 

2604 I have cured her from laying in the hedge, quoth 

the good man, when he married his daughter 

2605 I have more to do than a dish to wash 

2606 I have other fish to fry 

2607 I hope I may tie up my own sack when I please 

2608 I hope better, quoth Benson, when his wife bid 

him come in, cuckold 

2609 I know enough to hold my tongue, but not to speak 

2610 I "know he'll come-by his long tarrying 

261 J I know him as well as if I had gone through him 
with a lighted link 

2612 I know him as well as the beggar knows his dish 

26 13 1 know him not, though I should meet him in my 

porridge 

2614 I know of nobody that has a mind to die this year 

2615 I like writing with a peacock's quill, because its 

feathers are all eyes 

2616 I live, and lords do no more 

2617 I love to stand aloof from Jove and his thunder- 

bolts 

2618 I love you well, but touch not my pocket 

2619 I myself had been happy, if I had been unfortunate 

in time 

2620 I never asked you for wood to heat my own oven 

with 

2621 I never desired you to stumble at the stone that 

lieth at my door 

2622 I never fared worse than when I wished for supper 

2623 i now sec which leg you are lame of 

2624 I shall never turn my ninepence into a noble by 

this bargain 

2625 I sucked not this out of my finger's ends 

2626 I taught you to swim, and now you'd drown me 

2627 I thought I had given her rope enough, said Pet- 

ley, when he hanged his mare 

2628 I thought to bless myself, and I beat out both my 

eyes 

2629 I took him for a worm, but he proved a serpent 

2630 T took him napping, as Moss caught his mare 

2631 I wept when I was born, and now every day shews 

why 

2632 I will be thy friend, but not thy vice's friend 



79 

2633 I will christen my own child first 

2634 I will do my good will, as he that threshed in his 

cloak 

2635 I will either win the horse or lose the saddle 

2636 I will give you a crown a piece for your lies, if 

you'll let me have them all 

2637 I will give you a shirt full of sore bones 

2638 I will keep no cats that will not catch mice 

2639 I will make him dance without a pipe 

2640 I will never keep a dog to bite me 

2641 I will never stoop so low, to take up just nothing 

at all 

2642 I will not buy a pig in a poke 

2643 I will not change my cottage in possession, for a 

palace in reversion 

2644 I will not dance to every fool's pipe 

2645 I will not keep a dog, and bark myself 

2646 I will not make my dish-clout my table-cloth 

2647 I will not play my ace of trumps yet 

2648 I will not pull the thorn out of your foot, to put it 

into mine 
2648*1 will not suffer you to pay for this in another worLd 

2649 I will not touch her with a pair of tongs 

2650 I will not want when I have it, and have it not 

too 

2651 I will set a spoke in your cart for you 

2652 I will send him away with a Ilea in his ear 

2653 f will stick in your skirts for this 

2654 I will watch your water-gate 

2655 I would have a good horse for myself, not for my 

brother 

2656 I would have the fruit, not the basket 

2657 I would not do it. to have the king my cousin 

2658 I would not have your cackling for your eggs 

2659 I would not trust him, no, not with a bag of scor- 

pions 

2660 If a fool have success, it ruins him 

2661 If a louse miss its footing on his coat, 'twill be sure 

to break its neck 

2662 If a man once fall, all will tread upon him 

2663 If a poor man give thee ought, it is that thou 

should'st give him something better 

2664 If a wise man should never miscarry, the fool 

would burst 

E 4 



80 

2665 If a word be worth a shilling, silence is worth two 

2666 If afflictions refine some, they consume others 

2667 If all the world were ugly, deformity would be no 

monster 

2668 If an ass goes a travelling, he'll not come home an 

horse 

2669 If an ass kick you, will you kick him again ; or put 

him into the court ? 

2670 If any fool finds the cap fit him, let him wear it 

2671 If any thing stay, let work stay 

2672 If better were within, better would come out 

2673 If death be terrible, the fault is not in death, but 

thee 
2774 If ever I catch his cart overthrowing, I'll give it 
one shove 

2675 If every bird take back its own feathers, you'll be 

naked 

2676 If every fool were to wear a bauble, they would 

grow dear 

2677 If fools went not to market, bad wares would not 

be sold 

2678 If he had spewed so often as he had lied, he'd have 

brought up his guts long ago 

2679 If her husband like it, I like it also 

2680 If honesty cannot, knavery should not 

2681 If Jack's in love, he's no judge of J ill's beauty 

2682 If I am a fool, put you your finger in my mouth 

2683 If I had a dog so good for nothing as thou art, Yd 

bang him 

2684 If I had had no plough, you had had no ceni 

2685 If I had given four-pence for that advice, I" had 

bought it a groat too dear 

2686 If I had not lifted up the stone, you had not found 

'the jewel 

2687 If it should rain porridge, he'd want a dish 
26S8 If it were a bear, it would bite you 

2689 If it were not for hopes, the heart would break 

2690 If it were not for the belly, the back might wear 

gold 

2691 If madness were pain, you'd hear outcries in every 

house 

2692 If marriages are made in heaven, you had few 

friends there 

2693 If men had not slept, the tares had not been sown 



81 

2694 If money be not thy servant, it will be thy master 

2695 If my shirt knew my design, I'd burn it 

2696 If nobody take notice of our faults, we easily forget 

them ourselves 

2697 If one, two, or three tell 3011 you are an ass, put 

on a tail * - 

2698 If our bodies were to cost no more than our souls, 

we might board cheap 

2699 If pains be a pleasure to you, profit will follow 

2700 If strokes are good to give, they are good to re- 

ceive 

2701 If the ball does not stick to the wall, yet 'twill 

leave some mark 

2702 If the bed could tell all it knows, it would put 

many to the blush 

2703 If the channel's too small, the water must break 

out 

2704 If the counsel be good, no matter who gave it 

2705 If the devil catch a man idle, he'll set him at work 

2706 If the frog and mouse quarrel, the kite will see 

them agreed 

2707 If the mountain will not come to Mahomet, Maho- 

met must go to the mountain 

2708 If the niggard should once taste the sweetness of 

giving, he'd give all away 

2709 If the old dog barks, he gives counsel 

2710 If the parson be from home, be content with the 

curate 

2711 If the pills were pleasant, they would not want 

gilding 

2712 If the sky fall, the pots will be broken 

2713 If the sky fall, we shall catch larks 

2714 If the walls were adamant, gold would take the 

town 

2715 If there were no knaves and fools, all the world 

would be alike 

2716 If thou canst not see the bottom, wade not 

2717 If Hjou dealest with a fox, think of his tricks 

2718 If thou dost no more than barely wish me well, 

thou art no brother of mine 

2719 If thou sailest with a bad wind, thou hadst need to 

understand tacking about well 

2720 If thou wouldest have a good crop, sow with thy 

hand, but pour not out of the sack 
E 5 



82 

2721 If thou wouldst keep money, save money 

2722 If thou wouldst reap money, sow money 

2723 If thy cast be bad, mend it with good play 

2724 If thy hand be in a lion's mouth, get it out as fast 

as thou canst 

2725 If to-day will not, to-morrow may 

2726 If it will not be spun, bring it not to the distaff 

2727 If virtue keep court within, honour will attend 

without 

2728 If we are bound to forgive an enemy, we are not 

bound to trust him 

2729 If we be enemies to ourselves, whither shall we 

fly? 

2730 If we did not flatter ourselves, nobody else could 

2731 If wishes were* thrushes, beggars might eat birds 

2732 If you are negligent, others will be so to you 

2733 If you are too fortunate you will not know your- 

self 

2734 If you are too unfortunate no body will know you 

2735 If you be a fool and I be a fool, there will be no 

meddling with us 
273" If you be a jester keep your wit till you have use 
for it 

2737 If you be angry you may turn the buckle of your 

girdle behind you 

2738 If you be false to both beasts and birds, you must 

like the bat fly only by night 

2739 If you be not content put your hand in your pocket 

and please yourself 

2740 If yon be not so swift as he go to rights 

2741 If you beat spice it will smell the sweeter 

2742 If you brew well you may drink well 

2743 If you bny the cow take the tail into the bargain 

2744 If you can abide a curst wife you need not fear any 

company 

2745 If you can be well without health you may be hap- 

py without virtue 

2746 If you command wisely }ou'll be obeyed cheerfully 

2747 If you cut down the woods you'll catch the wolf 

2748 If yon desire to see my light, you must minister oil 

to my lamp 

2749 If you despise King Log you shall fear King Crane 

2750 If you don't open the door to the devil he goes a- 

way 



83 

2751 If you eat a pudding at home, your dog shall have 

the skin 

2752 If you go into a labyrinth, take a clew with you 

2753 If you grease a cause well, it will stretch 

2754 If you had as little money as manners, you'd be the 

poorest of all your kin 

2755 If you had had fewer friends, and more enemies, 

you had been a better man 

2756 If you hate a man, eat his bread; and if you love 

him do the same 

2757 If you have done no ill the six days, you may play 

the seventh 

2758 If you have many irons in the fire, some will burn 

2759 If you have no enemies, it is a sign fortune has for- 

got you 

2760 If you have one true friend, you have more than 

your share comes to 

2761 If you increase the water, you must increase the 

malt 

2762 If you in every thing fear, you shall not do well, 

you'll come to do ill in all things 

2763 If you let a fool play with you at home, he'll do so 

with you in the market 

2764 If you lie upon roses, when young; you'll lie upon 

thorns, when old 

2765 If you light the lire at both ends, the middle will 

shift for itself 

2766 If you love me, pray make it appear 

2767 If you love not the noise of the bells, why do you 

pull the ropes 

2768 If you love yourself too much, nobody else will love 

you at all 

2769 If you make Bacchus your god, Apollo will not 

keep you company 

2770 If you make money your god, 'twill plague you like 

a devil 

2771 If you make not much of threepence, you'll never 

be worth a groat 

2772 If you make your wife an ass, she will make you 

an ox 

2773 If you make your wife a goldfinch, she may prove 

in time a wag-tail 

2774 If you mock the lame, you will go so yourself in 

time 



84 

2775 If you must needs rake in a jakes, you may take 

the perfume of it for your pains 

2776 If you oblige those that can never pay you, you 

make Providence your debtor 

2777 If you pay for every lie, you will soon be a bank- 

rupt 

2778 If you pay not a servant his wages, he will pay 

himself 

2779 If you play with boys, you must take boy's play 
2781) If you pity rogues, you are no great friend to ho- 
nest men 

2781 If you put nothing into your purse, you can take 

nothing out 

2782 If you run after two hares, you will catch neither 

2783 If you save a rogue from the gallows, he will rob 

you that same night 

2784 If you scold me, I will not flatter you 

2785 If you seek trouble, its pity but you should find it 

2786 If you sell the cow, you sell her milk too 

2787 If you sit down a mere philosopher, you will rise 

almost an atheist 

2788 If you sleep till noon, you have no right to com- 

plain that the days are short 

2789 If you slander a dead man, you stab him in the 

grave 

2790 If you steal for others, you shall be hanged yourself 

2791 If you squeeze a cork, yon will get but little juice 

2792 If you swallow vice, 'twill rise badly in your sto- 

mach 

2793 If you tell every step, you will make a long journey 

of it 

2794 If you want a pretence to whip a dog, it is enough 

to say, he eat up the frying-pan 

2795 If you leap into a well, Providence is not bound to 

fi you out 

2796 If you will obtain, 3011 must attempt 
01797 if you win at that, you will lose at nothing 

2798 If you would compare two men, you must know 

Hi em both 

2799 If you would have a hen lay, you must bear with 

hercackl; ng 

2800 If you would have honest men, you must go out of 

the land for them 



85 

2801 If you would know the value of a ducat, try to 

borrow one 

2802 If you wrestle with a collier, you will get a blotch 

2803 If your desires be endless, your cares and fears will 

be so too 

2804 If your head be glass, engage not at throwing- 

stones 

2805 If your joys cannot be long, so neither can your 

sorrows 

2806 If your luck goes on at this rate, you may very well 

hope to be hanged 

2807 If your shoe pinch you, give it your man 

2808 In a calm everyone can steer 

2809 In a fuller's house all are dancers 

2810 In a night's time springs up a mushroom 

2811 In a thousand pounds worth of law, there is not a 

shilling's worth of pleasure 

2812 In all games it is good to leave off a winner 

2813 In an enemy spots are soon seen 

2814 In an ermine spots are soon discovered 

2815 In conversation dwell not too long on a weak side 

2816 In courtesy, rather pay a penny too much than too 

little 

2817 In doubtful matters, courage may do much; in 

desperate, patience 

2818 In fair weather prepare for foul 

2819 In love's wars, he who f.vetli is conqueror 

2820 In sleep, what difference is there between Solomon 

and a fool ? 

2821 In taking revenue, a man is but even with his 

enemy ; but in passing it over, he is superior 

2822 In the coldest flint there is hot fire 

2823 In the company of strangers, silence is safe 

2824 In the deepest water is the best fishing 

2825 In the fair tale is foul falsity 

2826 In the grave, dnst and bones jostle not for the wall 

2827 In the greatest ill the good man hath hope left 

2828 In the short life of man, no time can be afforded to 

be lost 

2829 In the time of mirth take heed 

2830 In things that must be, it is good to be resolute 

2831 In time comes he, whom God sends 

2832 Into the mouth of a bad dog falls many a good 

bone 



86 

2833 It amounts to no more than the tail of a roasted 

horse 

2834 It becomes her, as a pack-saddle would a sow 

2835 It costs more to revenge injuries, than to bear 

them 

2836 It happens in an hour, that comes not in an age 

2837 It has been a great misfortune to many a one that 

he lived too long 

2838 It is a bad action that success cannot justify 

2839 It is a bad bargain, where both are losers 

2840 It is a bad cause indeed, that none dares speak in v 

2841 It is a bad cloth that will take no colour 

2842 It is a bad house, where the hen crows louder than 

the cock 

2843 It is a bad sack that will bear no mending 

2844 It is a bad soil where no flowers will grow 

2845 It is a bad stake, that will not stand in the hedge 

one year 

2846 It is a base thing to tear a dead lion\s beard off 

2847 It is a base thing to tread upon a man that is down 

2848 It is a blind goose that knows not a fox from a fern 

bush 

2849 It is a cunning part to play the fool well 

2850 It is a fair degree of plenty to have what is neces- 

sary 

2851 It is a foolish bird that stayeth the laying salt upon 

her tail 

2852 It is a fortunate head that was never broke 

2853 It is a good blade that bends well 

2854 It is a good dog that can catch any thing 

2855 It is a good friend that is always giving, though it 

be never so little 

2856 It is a good hunting-bout that fills the belly - 

2857 It is a good knife, 'twas made at Dull-edge 

2858 It is a great act of life to sell air well 

2859 It is a great journey to life's end 

2860 It is a great point of wisdom to find out one's own 

folly 

2861 It is a hard-fought field where none escapes 

2862 It is a hard thing to have a great estate, and not 

fall in love with it 

2863 It is a long lane that has no turning 

2864 It is a mad hare that will be caught with a tabor 



87 

2865 It is madness for a sheep to send a challenge to # 

wolf 
2566 It is madness for a sheep to treat of peace with a 

wolf 

2867 It is a manly act to forsake an error 

2868 It is a mean ambition to he the 'squire of the com- 

pany 

2869 It is a miserable thing for a wise man to be under 

the government of a fool 

2870 It is a most base thing to betray a man because he 

trusted you 

2871 It is a rank courtesy, when a man is forced to give 

thanks for what is his own 

2872 It is a reproach, to be the first gentleman of his 

race ; but it is a greater to be the last 

2873 It is a sad burthen for a woman to carry a dead 

man's child 

2874 It is a sad choice, frying or (ire 

2875 It is a shame to steal, but a worse to earn* home 

2876 It is a sign of a good man, if he grows better for 

commendation 

2877 It is a sign of a worthy spirit, whom honour amends 

2878 It is a silly bargain, where no body gets 

2879 It is a silly fish, that is caught twice with the same 

bait 

2880 It is a silly game where nobody wins 

2881 It is a silly goose that comes to a fox's sermon 

2882 It is a silly horse that can neither winney, nor wag 

his tail 

2883 It is a sin against hospitality, to open your doors, 

and shut up your countenance 

2884 It is a sin to belie even the devil himself 

2885 It is a sorry flock, where the ewe bears the bell 

2886 It is a sorry goose that will not baste itself 

2887 It is a sort of a favour to be denied at first 

2888 It is a strange salt fish, that no water can make 

fresh 

2889 It is a strange wood, that has never a dead bough 

in it 

2890 It is a wicked thing to make a dearth one's gamer 

2891 It is a worthier thing to deserve honour, than to 

possess it 

2892 It is an easy tiling to find a stick to beat a dog 



88 

2893 It is an equal failing to trust every body, and to 

trust nobody 

2894 It is an hard winter, when dogs eat dogs 

2895 It is an ill air, where nothing is to be gained 

2896 It is an ill army, where the devil carries the colours 

2897 It is an ill bird, that bewrays its own nest 

2898 It is an ill bred dog that will beat a bitch 

2899 It is an ill dog that deserves not a crust 

2900 It is an ill dog that is not worth the whistling for 

2901 It is an ill guest that never drinks to his hostess 

2902 It is an ill procession where the devil holds the 

candle 

2903 It is an ill sign to see a fox lick a lamb 

2904 It is an ill thing to be deceived, but worse to de- 

ceive 

2905 It is as great a mischief to spare all, as it is cruelty 

to spare none 

2906 It is as hard a thing as to sail over the sea in an 

egg shell 

2907 It is as hard a thing to please a knave as a knight 

2908 It is as long a coming as Coiswold barley 

2909 It is as much intemperance to weep too much, as 

to laugh too much 

2910 It is as natural a thing for means to cure, as 'tis 

for fire to burn 

2911 It is as natural to die as to be born 

2912 It is at courts, as it is in ponds ; some fish, some 

frogs 

2913 It is almost as necessary to know other men as our- 

selves 

2914 It is always term-time in the court of conscience 

2915 It is better to be beloved than honoured 

2916 It is better to have a hen to-morrow, than an egg 

to-day 

2917 It is better to knot than to blossom 

2918 It is better to pay, and have but little left, than to 

have much, and be always in debt 

2919 It is better to reprove privately, than to be angry 

secretly 

2920 It is better to spin all night with PeneJope, than 

sing with Helen all day 

2921 It is better to take half in hand, and the rest pre- 

sently 

2922 It is cheap enough to say, God help you 



89 

2923 It is easy for a man in health to preach patience to 

the sick 

2924 It is easy to keep a castle that was never assaulted 

2925 It is easy to rob an orchard, when none keep it 

2926 It is easier to bear what's amiss, than go about to 

reform it 

2927 It is easier to descend than ascend 

2928 It is easier to fill a glutton's belly than his eye 

2929 It is easier to prevent ill habits than to break them 

2930 It is easier to pull down than build up 

2931 It is easier to run from virtue to vice, than from 

vice to virtue 

2932 It is easier to strike than defend well 

2933 It is even as broad as it is long 

2934 It is for want of thinking that most men are un- 

done? 

2935 It is good beef that costs nothing 

2936 It is good fish, if it were but caught 

2937 It is good fishing in troubled waters 

2938 It is good pride, to desire to be the best of men 

2939 It is good sheltering under an old hedge 

2940 It is good, to be in good time ; you know not how 

long it will last 

2941 It is good to have a hatch before one's door 

2942 It is good to have two strings to one's bow 

2943 It is good to be akin to an estate 

2944 It is good to sleep in a whole skin 

2945 It is good to strike the serpent's head with your 

enemy's hand 

2946 It is goodness, not greatness, that will do theo 

good 

2947 It is hard, even to the most miserable, to die 

2948 It is hard to be high and humble 

2949 It is hard to break an old hog of a custom 

2950 It is hard to make a good web of a bottle of hay 

2951 It is hard to pay and pray too 

2952 It is hard to shave an e^g 

2953 It is hard to sutler wrong, and pay for it too 

2954 It is hard to turn tack upon a narrow bridge 

2955 It is hard to wive and thrive both in a year 

2956 It is harder to marry a daughter well, than to bring 

her up well 

2957 It is hope alone that make us willing to Jive 

2958 It is human to err, but diabolical to persevere 



90 

2959 It is ill angling after the net 

2960 It is ill killing a crow with an empty sling 

2961 It is ill mistaking in matters of importance 

2962 It is ill playing with gunpowder 
5963 It is ill to drive black hop in the dark 

2964 It is ill to set spurs to a flying horse 

2965 It is ill to take an unlawful oath, but worse to keep 

it 

2966 It is in vain to cast your net where there is no fish 

2967 It is in vain to learn wisdom, and yet to live fool- 

ishly 

2968 It is in vain to mislike the current fashion 

2969 It is in vain to use words when deeds are expected 

2970 It is like nuts to an ape 

2971 It is lost labour to play a jig to an old cat 

2972 It is lost labour to sow, where there's no soil 

2973 It is madness to put on gloves when you are stark 

naked 
£974 It is midsummer moon with you 

2975 It is money that makes the mare to go 

2976 It is more commendable to deny upon occasion 

than to grant upon none 

2977 It is more difficult to praise rightly than to blame 

2978 It is more painful to do nothing than to do some- 

thing 

2979 It is more wisdom sometimes to dissemble wrongs 

than to revenge them 

2980 It is much like a blacksmith with a white silk 

apron 

2981 It is much safer to reconcile an enemy to thee, than 

to conquer him 

2982 It is my own fault if I am deceived by the same 

man twice 

2983 It is natural to a grey-hound to have a long tail 

2984 It is no advantage for a man in a fever to change 

his bed 

2985 It is no discredit to be a teacher of that which is cre- 

dible to be learnt 

2986 It is no easy matter to bear prosperity decently 

2987 It is no good hen, that cackles in your house and 

lays in another's 

2988 It is no injury that is not meant an injury 

2989 It is no more sin to see a woman weep, than to see 

a goose go barefoot 



91 

2990 It is no more to him than a crab in a cow's mo^tft 

2991 It is no shame to yield to him that we must not 

oppose 

2992 It is not a chargeable thing to salute civilly 

2993 It is not a sin to sell dear, but it is to make ill mea- 

sure 

2994 It is not a sign of humility to declaim against pride 

2995 It is not as thy mother sayeth, but as thy neigh- 
bours say 

2996 It is not every one that can pickle well 

2997 It is not good to come near the plague tho-igii to 

cure it 

2998 It is not humility, but sordidness, to be regardless 

of true honour 

2999 It is not lost if it comes at last 

3000 It is not the beast, but the mind that is the sacri- 

fice 
S001 It is not the cowl that makes the friar 

3002 It is not the fine coat that makes the fine gentle* 

man 

3003 It is not to be called a bad day that has a good 
night 

3004 It is not want, but rather abundance, that makes 
avarice 

3005 It is nothing to begin, unless you proceed and end 

well 

3006 It is often easier to make new than to cobble up 

the old 

3007 It is one thing to speak much, and another to speak 

pertinently 

3008 It is a pity those that taught you to talk did not 
also teach you to hold your tongue 

3009 It is a poor play that is not worth the candle 

3010 It is possible for a sheep to kill a butcher 

3011 It is possible to sin against charity, when we do not 

against truth 

3012 It is safe taking a slice off a cut loaf 

3013 It is safer to commend the dead than the living 

3014 It is safer to hear and take counsel than to give it 

3015 It is sin not to be angry with sin 

3016 It is seme relief to the unfortunate, to see there are 

others more miserable 

3017 It is sooner said than done 

3018 It is time enough to cry oh! when you are hurt 



92 

8019 It is time to marry when the woman woos the man 

3020 It is time to set in when the oven comes to the 

bread 

3021 It is the bridle and spur that makes a good horse 

3022 It is the easiest thing in the world for a man to de- 

ceive himself 

3023 It is the finest flower in his garden 

3024 It is the justice's clerk that makes the justice 

3025 It is the marriage of a cat and dog together 

3026 It is the ordinary way of the world, to keep folly at 

the helm, and wisdom under the hatches 

3027 It is the property of fools to be always judging 

3028 It is thou must honour the place, not the place thee 

3029 It is very pretty to see a poor man give to the rich 

3030 It is very seldom that a great talker hath either dis- 

cretion or good manners 

3031 It is wit to pick a lock and steal a horse ; b*>t it is 

wisdom to let it alone 

3032 It is wise not to seek a secret, and honest not to re- 

veal it 

3033 It is wiser to run away when there's no remedy, 

than to stay and die in the field foolishly 

3034 It is working that makes a workman 
3030 It is worse to do, than to revenge an injury 

3036 It is a mark of wisdom to dislike folly 

3037 It looks as well as a diamond necklace about a sow's 

neck 

3038 It matters not what religion an ill man is of 

3039 It may be necessary sometimes to hold a candle to 

the devil 

3040 It must be a wily mouse that can breed in a cat's ear 

3041 It ought to be a good tale that is twice told 

3042 It pitieth me to refuse him thatasketh modestly 

3043 It pricketh betimes that will be a good thorn 

3044 It rains in summer as well as in winter 

3045 It signifies nothing to play well if you lose 

3046 It will be long enough ere you wish your skin full 

of oilet-holes 

3047 It would have been pity to have spoil'd two houses 

with them 

3048 It would vex a dog to see a pudding creep 

3049 Jack at a pinch 

3050 Jack in an office is a great man 

3051 Jack of all trades is of no trade 



93 

3052 Jack would be a gentleman, if he could but speak 

French 

3053 Idle brains are the devil's workhouses 

3054 Idle fellows are the devil's playfellows 

3055 Idle men are dead all their life long 

3056 Idle people take the most pains 

3057 Idleness always envies industiy 

3058 Idleness and chastity cannot set their horses toge- 

ther 

3059 Idleness and lust are sworn friends 

3060 Idleness is the greatest prodigality in the world 

3061 Idleness makes the Avit rust 

3062 Idleness must thank itself if it go barefoot 

3063 Jeerers must be content to taste of their own broth 

3064 Jests are seldom good the first time, but the second 

distasteful 

3065 Jests, like sweetmeats, have often sour sauce 

3066 Ignorance is less hateful than conceitedness 

3067 Ignorance is the mother of impudence 

3068 Ignorance is the mother of Romish devotion 

3069 111 doers arc iil thinkers 

3070 111 gotten goods seldom prosper 

3071 111 got, ill spent 

3072 III kings make many good laws 

3073 111 layers up make many thieves 

3074 111 luck is good for something 

3075 111 manners produce good laws 

3076 III natures never want a tutor 

3077 III news comes apace 

3078 111 sowers make iil harvest 

3079 111 tongues ought to be heard only by persons cf 

discretion 

3080 111 weeds grow apace 

3081 111 will never speaks well, nor doth well 

3082 111 words are bellows to a slackning fire 

3083 111 wounds may be cured, but not ill names 

3084 Impatience does uot diminish, but always aug- 

ments the evil 

3085 Impatience makes every ill double, but content 

makes it none at all 

3086 Impatience never gets preferment 

3087 Improve opportunities 

3088 Impudence and wit are vastly different 

3089 Impudence commonly makes a fortune 



94 

£090 Inconsiderable excuses are a sort of self-accusation 

3091 Incredulity should make men advised, not irreso- 

lute 

3092 Industry is fortune's right hand, and frugality her 

left 

3093 Industry will never do much unless there be natu- 

ral parts also 

3094 Ingratitude is the daughter of pride 

3095 Ingratitude makes the receiver worse, but the be- 

nefactor better 

3096 Injuries don't use to be written on ice 

3097 Injuries slighted become none at all 

3098 Injurious men brook no injuries 

3099 Injury is to be measured by malice 

3100 Innocence is no protection 

3101 Innocence itself, sometimes hath need of a mask 

3102 Innocent actions cany their warrant with them 

3103 Innovations are dangerous 

3104 Insolence is pride when her mask is pulled off 

3105 Insolence puts an end to friendship 

31 06 Invite not a Jew either to pig or pork 

3107 Joan reels ill, and winds worse ; the devil a sto- 

mach she has to spin 

3108 Joan's as good as my lady in the dark 

3109 Job was not so miserable in his sufferings, »ji happy 

in his patience 

3110 Joy surfeited turns to sorrow 

3111 Is it an emperor's business to catch flies? 

3112 Is no coin good silver but your penny 

3113 Is there no mean but fast or feast 

3114 Itch is more intolerable than smart 

3115 Justice needs not injury to assist it in getting its 

own 

3116 Justice will not condemn even the devil himself 

wrongfully 

3117 Keep counsel thyself first 

3118 Keep the common road, and thou'rt safe 

3119 Keep thy plough jogging, so shalt thou have com 

for thy horses 

3120 Keep touch in small things 

3121 Keep your purse and your mouth close 

3122 Keep your shop, and your shop will keep you 

3123 Keeping from falling, is better than helping up 



59 

3124 Kill a cockatrice in the egg 

3125 Kill the lion's whelp; thou'lt strive in vain when 

he's grown 

3126 Kindnesses that we cannot requite are troublesome 

3127 Kindness is the noblest weapon to conquer with 

3128 Kissing goes by favour 

3129 Kings alone are no more than single men 

3130 Kings have no pvwer over souls 

3131 Knavery may serve a turn, but honest}- never fails 

3132 Knavery, without luck, is the worst trade in the 

world 

3133 Knaves and fools divide the world 

3134 Knaves are in such repute, that honest men are ac- 

counted fools 

3135 Knaves imagine nothing can be done without kna- 

very 

3136 Knowledge begins a gentleman, but 'tis conversa- 

tion that completes him 

3137 Knowledge directeth practice, but yet practice in- 

creaselh knowledge 

3138 Knowledge in youth is sapience in age 

3139 Knowledge is a treasure, but practice is the kev to 

it 

3140 Knowledge rendcreth a crime inexcusable 

3141 Knowledge, without practice, makes but half an ar- 

tist 

3142 Ladies will rather pardon want of sense than want 

of manners 

3143 Lame hares are ill to help 

3144 Lament not the dead, but the living 

3145 Late repentance is seldom true 

3146 Laughter is the backup of a fool 

3147 Lavislmess is not generosity 

3148 Law cannot persuade where it cannot punish 

3149 Law governs man, and reason the law 

3150 Laws catch flies, but let the hornets go free 

3151 Lawyers don't love beggars 

3152 Lay on more wood; the ashes will yield money 

3153 Lay the saddle upon the right horse 

3154 Lay things b}\ they may come to use 

3155 Lay thy hand upon thy half-penny twice before 

thou partest with it 

3156 Laziness calls for whip and spur 



96 

3157 Lean not on a reed 

3158 Lean liberty is better than fat slavery 

3159 Learning in an* ill man, is good wine in a musty 

bottle 

3160 Learning in the hand of some is a sceptre, in that 

of others a fool's bauble 

3161 Learning is worse lodg'd in him, than Jove was in 

a thatcht-house 

3162 Learning makes a good man better, and an ill man 

worse 
8163 Learning makes a man fit company for himself 

3164 Learn to crawl, before yon can go 

3165 Learn to say before you sing 

3166 Leave boy's play and go to push-pin 

3167 Leave is light 

3168 Leave no dirt, you'll find no dirt 

3169 Leave off play as soon as the pleasure is past 

3170 Leave the spring for the stream; so you shall have 

mud for water 

3171 Leave us in the dirt and find us in the mire 

3172 Less of your courtship I pray and more of your 

coin 

3173 Let choler be only a common soldier, not a com- 

mander 

3174 Let every cuckhold wear his own horns 

3175 Let every one praise the bridge that carries him 

over 

3176 Let every pedlar carry his own pack 

3177 Let every snail like her own shell best 

3178 Let her that will not dance turn out of the wed- 

ding 

3179 Let him fry in his own grease 

3180 Let him say what he will, men have spoken well of 

God before now 

3181 Let him set up a shop upon Goodwin's sands 

3182 Let him that can play take the lute 

3183 Let him that earns the bread eat it 

3184 Let him that is cold blow the fire 

3185 Let him that owns the cow take her by the tail 

3186 Let him that receives the profit repair the inn 

3187 Let me gain by you, and no matter whether you 

love me or not 

3188 Let not another shuffle and cut the cards thou art 

to deal out 



97 

3 1 89 Let not the mouse-trap smell of blood 

3190 Let not thy tongue run away with thy brains 

3191 Let the best horse leap the hedge first 

3192 Let the church have leave to stand in the church- 

yard 

3193 Let the drunkard alone, and by and by he'll fall of 

himself 

3194 Let the guts be full, for its they that carry the 

legs 

3195 Let the hen live though it be with pip 

3196 Let the people take back their praise again; I will 

do as much as I can without that 

3197 Let the smith himself wear the fetters he forged 

3198 Let them laugh that win 

3199 Let women spin, and not preach 

3200 Let your trouble tarry till its own day comes 

3201 Letters blush not 

3202 Liars and wits are cowards 

3203 Liberality is not giving largely, but giving wisely 

3204 Liberality draweth ilattery 

3205 Lickerish tongues, treacherous tails 

3206 Lidford law ; first hang and draw, then hear the 

cause 

3207 Life and misery began together 

3208 Life is half spent before we know what it is 

3209 Life lieth not in living by liking 

3210 Life that is too short for the happy is too long for 

the miserable 

3211 Life without a friend, is death with a venge- 

ance 

3212 Life would be too smooth if it had no rubs in it 

3213 Light come, light go 

3214 Light-hecl'd mothers make leaden-heel'd daugh- 

ters 

3215 Light injuries are made none by not regarding 

them 

3216 Light suppers make clean sheets 

3217 Lightness of carriage and beauty are old compani- 

ons 

3218 Like a barber's chair, fit for every one 

3219 Like a calf, she has a sweet tooth in her head 

3220 Like a cat, he'll still fall upon his legs 

3221 Like a collier's sack, bad without, but worse 

within 

F 



98 

3222 Like a dog in a manger, you'll not eat yourself, nor 
• let the horse eat 

3223 Like a loader's horse that lives among thieves 

3224 Like a miiler ; he can set to every wind 

3225 Like a mill horse, that goes much, but performs no 

journey 

3226 Like an hog, he does no good til! he dies 

3227 Like Banbury tinkers, that mend one hole and 

make three 

3228 Like fish, that live in salt water, and yet are fresh 

3229 Like Flanders-mares, fairest afar off 

3230 Like lambs, you do nothing but suck and wag 

your tail 

3231 Like lips, like lettuce 

3232 Like master, like man 

3233 Like priest, like people 

3234 Like Teague's cocks, that fought one another, 

though all were of the same side 

3235 Like ihe gardener's dog, that neither eats cabbage 

himself, nor lets any body else 

3236 Like the smith's dog, that sleeps at the noise of 

the hammers, and wakes at the crashing of teeth 

3237 Like the tailor, that sewed for nothing, and found 

the thread himself 

3238 Like those dogs, that meeting with nobody else, 

bite one another 

3239 Like to like, and Nan to Nicholas 

3240 Like will to like, as the devil said to the collier 

3241 Like Wood's dog, he'll neither go to church nor stay 

at home 

3242 Likely lies in the mire, when unlikely gets over 

3243 Likeness begets love, yet proud men hate one ano- 

ther 

3244 Lilies are whitest in a blackmoor's hand 

3245 Lip-honour costs little, yet may bring in much 

3246 Lip-labour is but lost labour 

3247 Listen at the hole, and you'll hear news of your- 

self 

3248 Listeners hear no good of themselves 

3249 Little and often fills the purse 

3250 Little birds may pick a dead lion 

3251 Little boats must keep the shore 

3252 Little bodies have commonly great souls 

3253 Little difference between a feast and a belly full 



99 

3254 Little dogs start the hare, but great ones catch it 

3255 Little goods are soon spent 

3256 Little goods, little care 

3257 Little knows the fat sow what the lean one means 

3258 Little said is soon amended 

3259 Little serpents may bite mortally 

3260 Little shame, little conscience, and much industry, 

will uiake a man rich 

3261 Little sticks kindle a fire, but great ones put it 

out 

3262 Little wealth brings little trouble 

3263 Live, and let live 

3264 Live not upon the opinion of other men 

3265 Living upon trust is the way to pay double 

3266 London-bridge was made for wise men to pass over, 

and for fools to pass under 

3267 Long and lazy 

3268 Long and slender, like a cat's elbow 

3269 Long ere you cut down an oak with a penknife 

3270 Long life hath long misery 

3271 Long Jook'd for comes at last 

3272 Look high, and fall low 

3273 Look not a given horse in the mouth 

32/4 Look to him, jailor, there's a frog la the stocks 

3275 Loquacity is the fistula of the soul, ever mm 

and never cur'd 

3276 Loquacity storms the car, but modesty takes tin 

heart 

3277 Lordly vices require lordly estates 

3278 Lose a leg rather than life 

3279 Lose not a hog for a half-penny-worth of tar 

3280 Love and envy make a man pine 

3281 Love and madness judge of things much alike 

3282 Love and peas-porridge will make their way 

3283 Love and peas will make a man speak at both 

ends 

3284 Love and pride stock Bedlam 

3285 Love comes in at the window, and flies out at the 

door 
32S6 Love does much, but money does more 

3287 Love is as mad as Ajax, it kills sheep, so it kills me 

3288 Love is the loadstone of love 

3289 Love is wont rather to ascend than descend 

3290 Love lives more in cottages than courts 

-F 2 






100 

3291 Love me little, and love me long 
3*292 Love me, love my dog 

3293 Love me move, and honour me leas 

3294 Love never desires a partner 

3295 Love of wit makes no man rieh 

3296 Love requires boldness, and scorns bashfulness 

3297 Love sees no faults 

3298 Love the itch, and a cough cannot be hid 

3299 Love thy neighbour, but cut not up thy hedge for 

him 

3300 Love weeping burns 

3301 Love will creep where it cannot go 

3302 Lovers complain of their hearts, but the distemper 

is in their heads 

3303 Lie thou for me, and I'll swear for thee 

3304 Madam I am to the utmost of my power not yours 

3305 Magistrates are to obey as well as execute laws 

3306 Maidens should be seen, and not heard 

3307 Maids make much of one ; good men are scarce 

3308 Maids say nay, and take it 

3309 Maids want nothing but husbands, and then they 

want every thing 

3310 Make a model before thou buildest 

3311 Make a pearl on your nail 

3312 Make a silver bridge for your enemy to fly over 
3333 Make a virtue of necessity 

3314 Make hay while the sun shines 

3315 Make me a sooth- sayer, and I'll make Ihee rich 

3316 Make no baulks in good ground 

3317 Make no oris of good hay 

3318 Make not a gauntlet of a hedging glove 

3319 Make not another's shoes by your foot 

3320 Make not even the devil blacker than he is 

3321 Make not fish of one, and flesh of another 

3322 Make not thy sail too big for the ballast 

3323 Make not thy tail broader than thy wings 

3324 Make not your sauce before you have caught the 

fish 

3325 Make the best of a bad bargain 

> Make the young one squeak, and you'll eatch the 
old one 
3327 Malice drinketh up the greatest part of its own 
poison 



101 

3328 Malice hath a sharp sight, and a strong memory 

3329 Malice is mindful 

3330 Man begins to die before he is born 

3331 Man had perished long ago had it not been for pub- 

lic-spirited persons 

3332 Man punishes the action, but God the intention 

3333 Manners and money make a gentleman 

3334 Manners-make a man, quoth Will, of Wickham 

3335 Man, woman, and devil, are the three degrees of 

comparison 

3336 Many a dog's dead since you were a whelp 

3337 Many a good cow hath but a bad calf 

3338 Many a man of fame hath been beholden to fortune 

for his laurel 

3339 Many an honest man stands in need of help, that 

h as not the face to beg it 

3340 Many can bear adversity, but few contempt 

3341 Many can pack the cards better than they can 

play 

3342 Many come to bring their clothes to church ra- 

ther than themselves 

3343 Many dogs soon eat up a horse 

3344 Many dressers put the bride's dress out of order 

3345 Many drops of water will sink a ship 

3346 Many get into a dispute well that cannot get out 

well 

3347 Many hands make light work 

3348 Many have come to a port after a storm 

3349 Many have been ruin'd by buying good penny- 

worths 

3350 Many humble servants, but not one true friend 
-3351 Many kiss the child for the nurse's sake 

3352 Many kiss the hands they wish to see cut off 

3353 Many make straight things crooked, but few the 

contrary 

3354 Many masters, quoth the toad to the harrow, when 

every tine turn'd her over 

3355 Many owe their fortunes to their envicrs 

335o Many rise under their burthens more like camels 

than palm trees 
3357 Many strokes fell the oak 

58 Many talk like philosophers, and live like fools 
$ Many that arc wits in jest, are foois in earnest 
) \id& go out foi wool come home shorn 
F 3 



102 

3361 Many there be, that buy nothing with their money 

but repentance 

3362 Many things fall out between the eup and the lip 

3363 Many things grow in the garden, that were never 

sowed there 

3364 Many words and many lies look much alike 

3365 Many words will not fill a bushel 

3366 Many would be cowards if they had courage enough 

3367 Many would have been worse, if their estates had 

been better 

3368 March birds are best 

3369 March grass never did good 

3370 Marriage and hanging go by destiny 

3371 Marriage is honourable, but housekeeping charge- 

able 

3372 Marriage leapeth up upon the saddle, and soon 

alter repentance upon the crupper 

3373 Marry your daughters betimes, lest they marry 

themselves 

3374 Marry come up my dirty cousin 

3375 Masters are mostly the greatest servants in the 

house 

3376 Masters should be sometimes blind, and sometimes 

deaf 

3377 May it please God not to make our friends so happy 

as to forget us 

3378 May no good Christian ever see an ugly woman 

that affects niceness 

3379 Mean men admire wealth, great men glory 

3380 Measure not others corn by your own bushel m 

3381 Measure thrice, and cut once 

3382 Meat atid mat tins hinder not a journey 

3383 Meat is much ; but malice is more 

3384 Mediocrity is mean, and below an exalted spirit 

3385 Meddlers are the devil's body-lice; they fetch 

blood from those that feed them 

3386 Mere idleness can have no excuse 

3387 Men, apt to promise, are apt to forget 

13388 Men are less eager for what they may have, than 
what they cannot obtain 

3389 Men are more prone to revenge injuries, than to 

requite kindnesses 

3390 Men arc not to be measured by inches 

3391 Men blush to be cured by a shameful remedy 



103 

3392 Men fear death, as children fear going in the dark 

3393 Men generally look more upon decency than virtue 

3394 Men get wealth, and women keep it 

3395 Men hate those the} have hurt 

3396 Men like to talk of what they love 

3397 Men may bear till their backs break 

3398 Men may blush to hear what they were not ashamed 

to act 

3399 Men never play the fool more, than by endeavour- 

ing to be over-wise 

3400 Men never think their fortune too great, nor then- 

wit too little 

3401 Men of business must not break their word twice 

3402 Men of cruelty are birds of the devil's hatching 

3403 Men seek less to be instructed than applauded 

3404 Men take less care of their conscience than their 

reputation 

3405 Men, that are crafty, deal mostly in generals 

3406 Men, that have much business, must have much 

pardon 

3407 Men work but slowly that have poor wap.es 

3408 Men's actions are not to be judged of at first sight 

3409 Merry is the company tiil the reckoning comes 

3410 Merry meet, merry part 

3411 Mettle is dangerous in a blind horse 

3412 Mice care not to play with kittens 

3413 Millers need no noi<t\ yet cannot grind without it 

3414 Mills will not grind, it' you gnc them not water 

3415 Mirth and mischief are two things 

3416 Mirth and motion prolong life 

3417 Mischief comes b\ tiie pound, and goes away by 

the ounce 

3418 Misers put their back and their belly into their 

pocket 

3419 Misfortunes makes us wise 

3420 Misfortunes tell us what fortune is 

3421 Misfortunes, that can't be avoided, must be sweet- 

ened 

3422 Misfortunes, when asleep, are not to be awakened 

3423 Misreckoniug is no payment 

3424 Misunderstanding brings lies to town 

3425 Mock no pannier man, if your father was a fisher 

3426 Mock not, quoth Mountford, when his wife called 

him cuckold 

P 4 



104 

3427 Moderate riches will carry you ; if you have more, 

you must carry them 

3428 JModerate things are best 

3429 Moderation in prosperity argues a great mind 

3430 Modest assurance, good humour, and prudence, 

make a gentleman 

3431 Modesty is not bash fulness 

3432 Modesty ruins all that bring it to court 

3433 Money, as well as need, makes the old wife trot 

3434 Money cannot buy merit 

3435 Money in purse will be always in fashion 

3436 Money is a merry fellow 

3437 Money is a sword, that can cut even the Gordian 

knot 

3438 Money is ace of trumps 

3439 Money is the best bait to fish for man with 

3440 Money is the god of the world 

3441 Money is the only monarch 

3442 Money is the sinew of love, as well as of war 

3443 Money is too inconsiderable to love, yet too useful 

to throw away 

3444 Monty, like dung, does no good till it is spread 
§445 Mosey makes marriage 

3446 Money makes not so many true friends as real 

enemies 

3447 Money will do more than my lord's letter 

3413 Money will make a baboon, or a bear, to ride in a 
coach 

3449 Money will make the pot boil, though the devil 

i isa in the fire 

3450 More belongs to marriage than four bare legs in a 

bed 

3451 More cost than worship 

3452 More credit may be thrown down in a moment, 

than can be built in an age 

3453 More die by food than famine 

3454 More Hies are taken with a drop of honey than a 

tun of vinegar 

3455 More goes to the making of a fine gentleman than 

fine clothes 

3456 More knave than fool 

3457 -More like the devil than to St. Lawrence 

3458 More malice than matter 

3459 More men are terrified than punished 



105 

3460 More molehills than men 

3461 More than enough is too much 

3462 More than we use is more than we want, and a 

burthen to the bearer 

3463 More things affright than hurt us 

3464 More to do with one jackanapes, than with all the 

bears 

3465 More words than one to a bargain 

3466 Mortal man must not keep up immortal anger 

3467 Most men cry, Long live the conqueror 

3468 Most men employ their first years so as to make 

their last miserable 

3469 Most men have a thorn at their door 

3470 Most men worship the rising sun 

3471 Most of our evils come from our vices 

3472 Most things have two handles; and a wise man 

takes hold of the best 

3473 Mostly, where the body is finely adorned, the soul 

is un garni shed 

3474 Mothers' darlings make but milk-sop heroes 

3475 Mouth civility is no great pains, but may turn to 

good account 

3476 Much better never to catch a rogue, than let him 

go again 

3477 Much bran, and little flour 

3478 Much coin, much care 

3479 Much compliance, much craft 
3180 Much corn lies in the chaff unseen 

3481 Much in earth, but little in heaven 

3482 Much law, but little justice 

3483 Much meat, much malady 

3484 Much praving, but no piety 

3485 Much religion, but no goodness 

3486 Much wit, much froth 

3487 Much would have more, but often meets with less 

3488 Mud choaks no eels 

3489 Muddy springs will have muddy streams 

3490 Muddy water is a bad looking-glass 

3491 Muddy waters are the fishmonger's gain 

3492 Muffled cats are not good mousers 
45493 Music helps not the tooth-ache 

3494 Mustard is good sauce, but mirth is better 

3495 Must I tell you a tale, and find you ears too? 

3496 Mutability is the badge of infirmity 

F 5 



106 

3497 My cow gives a good mess of milk, and then kicks 

it down 

3498 My dame fed her hens with mere thanks, and they 

laid no eggs 

3499 My house is my castle 

3500 My mind to me a kingdom is 

3501 My money comes in at the door, and flies out at 

the window 
350*2 My name is Twyford ; I know nothing of the 
matter 

3503 My teeth are nearer to me than my kindred is 

3504 Na(ure gives parts and merit, but its fortune that 

brings them forth 

3505 Nature is beyond all teaching 

3506 Nature never made us for play and pleasure 

3507 Nature takes as much pains in the womb for the 

forming of a beggar as an emperor 

3508 Nature teaches us to love our friends, but religion 

our enemies 

3509 Nature will sometimes lie buried a great while, and 

yet revive upon occasion of a temptation 

3510 Natural folly is bad enough; but learned folly is 

intolerable 

3511 Naught is never in danger 

3512 Nay, stay, quoth Stringer, when his neck was in 

the halter 

3513 Near is my shirt, but nearer is my skin 

3514 Necessity and opportunity may make a coward va- 

liant 

3515 Necessity dispenseth with decorum 

3516 Necessity has no law 

3517 Necessity sharpens industry 

3518 Neck or nothing ; for the king loves no cripples 

3519 Need makes the naked queen spin 

3520 Neglect will sooner kill an injury than revenge 

3521 Neither a log, nor a stork, good Jupiter 

3522 Neither coat nor cloak will hold out against rain 

upon rain 

3523 Neither fish, nor flesh, nor good red herring 

3524 Neither griefs nor joys were ordered for secrecy 
3 525 Neither in Kent, nor Christendom 

3 526 Neither marry, nor buy an old beast; the reason's 
plain 



107 

3527 Never a barrel, the better herring 

3528 Never chuse linen, nor women, by candle-light 

3529 Never rub your eye but with your elbow 

3530 Never too old to learn what is good 

3531 Never was a scornful person well received 

3532 Never was cat or dog drowned, that could but see 

the shore 

3533 N ew brooms sweep clean 

3534 New dishes beget new appetites 

3535 New grief awakens the old 

3536 New lords, new laws 

3537 New things are most looked at 

3538 Next to a good conscience, a clear reputation is 

the clearest thing in the world 

3539 Next to no wife, a good wife is best 

3540 ft ice eaters seldom meet with a good dinner 

3541 Night is the mother of thought 

3542 Nightingales can sing their own song best 

3543 Nip the briar in the bud 

3544 No autumn fruit without spring blossoms 

3545 Nobody calls himself rogue 

3546 Nobody can live longer in peace than his neighbour 

pleases 

3547 Nobody can stand in awe of himself too much 

3548 Nobody can think much to bear that, which is the 

common fate of all men 

3549 Nobody hath too much prudence or virtue 

3550 Nobody is fond of fading flowers 

3551 Nobody is willing to acknowledge he is in the fault 

3552 Nobody thinks himself an impertinent or fool 

3553 No carrion will poison a crow 

3554 No choice among stinking fish 

3555 No condition so low, but may have hopes ; none so 

high, but may have fears 

3556 No cross, no crown 

3557 No cut to unkindness 

3558 No day passeth without something we wish not 

3559 No dearth, but begins in the horse manger 

3560 No dish pleases all palates alike 

3561 No doors are shut against honest grey hairs 

3562 No estate can make him rich that has a poor heart 

3563 No feast like a miser's feast 

3564 No fence against a flail 

3565 No fence against gold 



108 

356(5 No fence against ill fortune 

3567 No fine clothes can hide the fool or clown 

3563 No flying from fate 

3569 No flying without wings 

3570 No fool like the old fool 

3571 No friend like to a hosom friend; as the man said 

when he pulled out a louse 

3572 No friend to a bosom friend ; no enemy to a bosom 

enemy 
3673 No friendship lives long, that owes its rise to the 
pot 

3574 No gale can equally serve all passengers 

3575 No gaping against an oven 

3576 No garden without its weeds 

3577 No glue will hold when the joint is bad 

3578 No good building without a good foundation 

3579 No good workman without good tools 

3580 No happiness without holiness 

3581 No heralds in the grave 

3582 No honest man ever repented of his honesty 

3583 No honest man gets an estate of a sudden 

3584 No honest man has the leer of a rogue 

3585 No jesting with et\^ed tools 

3586 No ill-natured people think well of God 

3587 No larder, but hath its mice 

3588 No longer blow, no longer burn 

3589 No longer foster, no longer friend 

3590 No longer pipe, no longer dance 

3591 No man can always stand his ground 

3592 No man can stand always upon his guard 

3593 No man can be happy without a friend, nor be sure 

of his friend till he is unhappy 

3594 No BMW can guess in cold blood what he may do in 

a ission 

3595 No man can like all, or be liked of all 

3596 No man crieth stinking fish 

359/ No man ever surfeited on too much honesty 
3598 No man has a monopoly of craft to himself 
3-^99 No man is born wise or learned 

3600 No man is bis craft's master the first day 

3601 No man is the worse for knowing the worst of 

himself 

3602 No man is willing to own him who is out of th« 

good opinion of th^ world 



109 

3603 No man knows himself, till he hath tasted of both 

fortunes 

3604 No man lives so poor as he was born 

3605 No man should be afraid to die, who hath under- 

stood what it is to live 

3606 No man should live in the world, that has nothing 

to do in it 

3607 No man was ever scared into heaven 

3608 No man was made for sports and recreations 

3609 No man's religion ever survives his morals 

3610 No matter what religion a knave or a fooi is of 

3611 No matter what the vessel is, so the wine in it be 

good 

3612 No merchant gets always 

3613 No mill, no meal 

3614 No pay, no Swiss 

3615 No pear without a stalk 

3616 No penny, no pardon 

3617 No penny, no Paternoster 

3618 No priest, no mass 

3619 No priority among the dead 

3620 No receiver, no thief 

3621 No religion but can boast of its martyrs 

3622 No relying on wine, women, and fortune 

3623 No resolutions of repentance hereafter can be sin- 

cere 

3624 No rogue like to the godly rogue 

3625 No rose without a prickle 

3626 No ruins are so irreparable as those of reputation 

3627 No safe wading in an unknown water 

3628 No smoke without some fire 

3629 No silver, no service 

3630 No sort of head-clothes wili fit a mad head 

3631 No sunshine but hath some shadow 

3632 No sweet without some sweat 

3633 No sweetness in a cabbage twice boiled, nor in a 

tale twice told 

3634 No time was ever suitable in all points 

3635 No tyrant can take from you your knowledge and 

wisdom 

3636 No vice but hath its patron 

3637 No vice goes alone 

3638 No villain like to the conscientious villain 

3639 No riper so little but hath its venom 



110 

3610 No wonder if he breaks his shins that walks in the 
dark 

3641 Noble plants suit not with a stubborn soil 

3642 None but a wise man can employ leisure well 

3643 None but cats and dogs are allowed to quarrel in 

my house 

3644 None but great men can do mischief 

3645 None can be good too soon 

3646 None can be wise and safe, but he that is honest 

3647 None can pray well, but he that lives well 

3648 None can think so well of others, as most do of 

themselves 

3649 None ever gives the lie to him that praiseth him 

3650 None goes to the gallows for giving ill counsel 

3651 None hastens to that market where nothing is to be 

bought but blows 

3652 None is a fool always, every one sometimes 

3653 None is so old, but he hopes for a year longer 

3654 None is so wise, but the fool sometimes overtakes 

him 

3655 None knows the weight of another's burthen 

3656 None knows what will happen to him before sunset 

3657 None so deaf as he that will not hear 

3658 None sows such a grain as will not sell 

3659 Nothing, but what is ominous, to the superstitious 

3660 Nothing costs so much as what is given us 

3661 Nothing dries sooner than a woman's tears 

3662 Nothing is easy to the negligent 

3663 Nothing is easy to the unwilling 

3664 Nothing is easier than to deceive one's self 

3665 Nothing is good, but in its season 

3666 Nothing is good or bad, but by comparison 

3667 Nothing is fine, but what is tit 

3668 Nothing is ill that ends well 

3669 Nothing is more easily blotted out than a good 

turn 

3670 Nothing is more ordinary than for vice to correct 

sin 

3671 Nothing is ours but time 

3672 Nothing is well said, or done, in a passion 

3673 Nothing more thankful than pride, when complied 

with 

3674 Nothing sharpens sight like envy 

3675 Nothing stake, nothing draw 



Ill 

3676 Nothing, that is violent, is permanent 

3677 Nothing to be got without pains, but poverty 

3678 Nothing venture, nothing have 

3679 Nothing's impossible to a willing mind 

3680 Nothing's more playful than a young cat, nor more 

grave than the old one 

3681 Not possession, but use, is the only riches 

3682 Not to go forward in the way of virtue, is to go 

backwards 

3683 Not to have hope is the poorest of all things 

3684 Not to hear conscience, is the way to silence it 

3685 Not to oversee workmen, is to leave them your 

purse open 

3686 Not to repent of a fault is to justify it 

3687 Not what is she, but what has she 

3688 Not worthy to carry guts after a bear 

3689 No\v-a-days truth is the greatest news 

3690 Now I have got an ewe and a lamb, every one 

cries, Welcome, Peter 

3691 Now it rains into the sea 

3692 Oaks may fall, when reeds stand the storm 

3693 Obedience is much more seen in little things than 

in great 

3694 Obscene words must have a deaf ear 

3695 Of all birds give me mutton 

3696 Of all crafts to an honest man, downright is the 

only craft 

3697 Of all tame beasts I hate a slut 

3698 Of idleness never comes any good 

3699 Of soup and love, the fust is the best 

3700 Offences generally outweigh merits with great 

men 

3701 Offenders never pardon 

3702 Offer not the pear to him that gave the apple 

3703 Oftentimes, to please fools, wise men err 

3704 Old age is not so fiery as youth ; but when once 

provoked cannot be appeased 

3705 Old age, though despised, is coveted by all men 

3706 Old bees yield no honey 

3707 Old birds are not caught with chaff 

3708 Old buildings may fail in a moment 

3709 Old cats may lap as well as young children 

3710 Old custom, without truth, is but an old error 



112 

3711 Old dogs bark not for nothing 

3712 Old foxes want no tutors 

3713 Old hosts give entertainment to sharks 

3714 Old maids lead apes in hell 

3715 Old men and travellers may lie with authority 

3716 Old men are soon angry 

3717 Old men are twice children 

3718 Old men feel young men's knocks 

371^ Old men go to death ; but death comes to young 
men 

3720 Old men have one foot in the grave, and many 

young men too 

3721 Old men remember such things as they delighted 

in when young 

3722 Old men that dandle madams hug death 

3723 Old men think themselves cunning 

3724 Old porridge is sooner warmed than new made 

3725 Old reckonings make new quarrels 

3726 Old sacks want much patching 

3727 Old sores are hardly cured 

3728 Old thanks pay not for a new debt 

3729 Old vessels must leak 

3730 Old women's gold is not ugly 

3731 Once a whore, and ever a whore 

3732 Once in ten years one man hath need of another 

3733 Once in use, and ever after a custom 

3734 Once taken is better than twice given 

3735 One adversary may do us more harm, than a great 

many friends can do us good 

3736 One barking dog sets all the street a barking 

3737 One barber shaves not so close, but another finds 

work 

3738 One bcateth the bush, and another catcheth the 

bird 

3739 One bird in the hand is worth two in the bush 

3740 One brother may help another 

3741 One cannot live by selling goods for words 

3742 One cannot take true aim at things too high 

3743 One cSond is enough to eclipse all the sun 

3744 One crow will not peck out another crow's eyes 

3745 One danger is seldom overcome without another 

3746 One day of pleasure is worth two of sorrow 

3747 One devil is like another 

3748 One devil often drubs another 



113 

3749 One eye of the master's sees more than ten of the 

men's 

3750 One eye-witness is better than ten hearsays 

3751 One favour qualifies for another 

3752 One gift well given recovereth many losses 

3753 One good head is better than an hundred strong 

hands 

3754 One good turn deserves another 

3755 One grain of pepper is worth a cart-load of hail 

3756 One had better forgive a debt, where he cannot re- 

cover so much as his charges 

3757 One hair of a woman draws more than a team of 

oxen 
3753 One half of the world wonders how the other lives 
3769 One hand may wash the other, but both the face 

3760 One hour's sleep before midnight is worth two af- 

ter 

3761 One hour to day is worth two to-morrow 

3762 One jeer seldom goeth forth, but it bringeth back 

its equal 

3763 One is of Martin's religion, another of Luther's 

3764 One kindness is the price of another 

3765 One leg of a lark is worth the whole body of a 

kite 

3766 One lie calls for many 

3767 One mad action is not enough to prove a man 

mad 

3768 One man may better steal a horse, than another 

look over the hedge 

3769 One may as much miss the mark by aiming too 

too low 

3770 One ;oon break his neck as his fast at your 

3771 confuted, and yet not convinced 

3772 Onemaj come scon enough to an ill market 

3773 One aj discern an ass shrowded in a lion's skin 

■ nx spectacles 

3774 One may hold <>.•. in an ill time 

3775 One may know In his nose what porridge he loves 

3776 One ma) know your meaning bj jour gaping 

3777 One may live and learn 

3778 One may point at a star, but not pull at it 

3779 One may say too much even upon the best subject 

3780 One may see day at a little hole 



114 

3781 One may surfeit with too much, as well as starve 

with too little 

3782 One may tell lies w ithout danger of the law 

3783 One may think that dares not speak 

3784 One may understand like an angel, end yet be a 

devil 

3785 One nail drives out another 

3786 One never loses by doing good turns 

3787 One of his hands is unwilling to wash t'other for 

nothing 

3788 One outward civility is current pay for another 

3789 One pair of heels is worth two pair of hands 

3790 One pirate gets nothing of another but his cask 

3791 One saddle is enough for one horse 

3792 One scabby sheep is enough to infect the whole 

flock 

3793 One shoulder of mutton drives down another 

3794 One shrewd turn asks another 

3795 One swallow makes no summer 

3796 One suit of law breeds twenty 

3797 One tale is good till another is told 

3798 One that's perfectly idle, is perfectly weary too, 

and knows not what he would do or have 

3799 One thing thinketh the horse, and another he that 

saddles him 

3800 One tongue is enough for two women 

3801 One trick needs a great many more to make it 

good 

3802 One might as well be out of the world, as be bclov'd 

by nobody in it 

3803 One wicked weed spoils a whole mess of porridge 

3804 One wood's enough to feed many elephants 

3805 One wrong step may give you a great fall 

3806 One year of joy, another of comfort ; the rest of 

content, make the married life happy 

3807 Only that, which is honestly got, is gain 

3808 Open not your door when the devil knocks 

3809 Openness has the mischief, though not the malice, 

of treachery 

3810 Opportunity makes the thief 

3811 Oral sanctity is mental impiety 

3812 Other men's tailings accuse us of frailty 
3S13 Other men's ills are slightly regarded 
3814 Overdoing is doing nothing to the purpose 



115 

3815 Over shoes, over boots 

3816 Over the greatest beauty hangs the greatest ruin 

3817 Our ancestors grew not great by hawking and hunt- 

ing 
3S18 Our birth made us mortal, our death will make us 
immortal 

3819 Our common friends are but spies of our actions 

3820 Our common conversation is but a babble about 

nothing 

3821 Our desires may undo us 

3822 Our fellow's share is always the best 

3823 Our flatterers are our most dangerous enemies; 

and yet often lie in our bosoms 

3824 Our own opinion is never wrong 

3825 Our pity is often misapplied; for none can tell 

what another feels 

3826 Our pleasures are mostly imagined, but our griefs 

real 

3827 Our spit is not yet at the fire, and you are got a 

basting already 

3828 Our time is very short, but the time of doing good 

is much shorter 
3S29 Our virtues would be proud, if our vices whipp'd 
them not 

3830 Our whole life is but a greater and longer child- 

hood 

3831 Out nettle, in dock 

3832 Out of debt, out of danger 

3833 Out of God's blessing into the warm sun 

3834 Out of sight, out of mind 

3835 Out of the frying-pan into the fire 

3836 Pain is forgotten when gain comes 

3837 Pain is more affecting than pleasure 

3838 Pain past is pleasure 

3839 Pains are the wages of ill pleasures 

3840 Pale anger is the devil's visage 

3841 Parasites pitch up toils to catch deer in a platter 

3842 Pardoning the bad is injuring the good 

3843 Parents are patterns 

3844 Parnassus has no gold mines in it 

3845 Past labour is pleasant 

3816 Passion and Deliberation never set their horses 
together 



116 

3847 Passion, joined with power, produceth thunder and 

ruin 

3848 Passion maketh man a beast, but Mine maketh him 

worse 

3849 Passionate men, like fleet hounds, are apt to over- 

run the scent 

3850 Passionate people lay up no malice 

3851 Paternoster built churches, and Our Father pulled 

them down 

3852 Patience and application will carry us through 

3853 Patience and pusillanimity are two things 

3854 Patience grows not in every garden 
3856 Patience is a plaister for all sores 

3850 Patience is good for abundance of things besides 

the gout 
SS57 Patience is the best buckler against affronts 
3358 Patience, money, and time, bring all things to pass 
3d59 Patience provoked turns to fury 
38€0 Patience upon force, is a medicine for a m?/l C >g 
oo raid's will not always stand 
&$6z Penitence and innocence are near relations 

3863 Penny come quick soon makes two-pence 

3864 Penny in pocket is a merry companion 

3865 Penny in purse will make me drink, when all the 

friends I have will not 

3866 Penny wise and pound foolish 

3867 Perfect love never settled in a light head 

3868 Perhaps you'd have cherries at Christmas 

386^ Perhaps you may have such broth sent you as you 
will not like 

3870 Peter is so godly, that God don't make him thrive 

3871 Pheasants are fools, if they invite the hawk to 

dinner 

3872 Pickpockets are sure traders, for they take ready 

money 

3873 Pigeons are taken, when crows fly at pleasure 

3874 Pigs love, that lie together 

3875 Pigs play on the organ at Hog's Norton 

3876 Pity cureth envy 

3877 Pity it is that no vanity should be put into the com- 

position of women kind 

3878 Plain dealing is a jewel, but they that wear it are 

out of fashion 

3879 Plain dealing is dead, and died without issue 



117 

3880 Plant the crab tree where you will, it will never 

bear pippins 

3881 Plants too often removed will not thrive 

3882 Play at small games rather than stand out 

3883 Play may be good, but folly can never be of any use 

3884 Play, women, and wine, undo men laughing 

3885 Pleasant discourses make short day and night 

3886 Pleasant hours fly fast 

3887 Pleasure tasteth well after service 

3888 Pleasure that comes too thick grows fulsome 

3889 Pluck not a courtesy in the bud, before it is ripe 

3890 Point not at other's spots with a foul finger 

3891 Policy may he virtuous, as well as vicious 

3892 Poor folks are glad of porridge 

3893 Poor folks must say, Thanh ye, for a little 

3894 Poor men may think well, but rich men may both 

think well aud do well 

3895 Poor men seek meat for their stomach ; rich men 

stomach for their meat 
3S96 Poor men's tables are soon spread 

3897 Poor people are apt to think every body flouts them 

3898 Poor men's reasons are rot heard 

3899 Popular opinion is the greatest lie in the world 

3900 Positive men err most of any men 

3901 Posim eness is an evidence of poor judgment 

3902 Possession is eleven points in the law 

3903 Possibilities are infinite 

3904 Poverty break* covenants 

3905 Poverty is a complication of evils 

3906 Poverty is an evil counsellor 

3907 Poverty is a friend to health 

3908 Poverty is not a shame ; but the being ashamed of 

it is 

3909 Poverty is shamefully borne by a sluggard 

3910 Poverty is querulous 

3911 Poverty makes men ridiculous 

3912 Poverty makes men poor spirited 

3913 Poverty on an old man's back is a heavy burthen 

3914 Poverty trietfa friends 

3915 Pour not water on a drowning mouse 

3916 Praise is always pleasant 

3917 Praise is pleasing to him that thinks he deserves it 

3918 Praise makes good men better, and bad men worse 

3919 Praise not the day before night 



118 

3920 Praise not the ford, till you are safe over 

3921 Praise the sea, but keep on land 

3922 Praise without profit puts little into the pot 

3923 Praises are admonitions well dressed o u 

3924 Praises from an enemy imply real merit 

3925 Praises from wieked men are reproaches 

g926 Prate is prate ; but its the duck that lays the egg 

3927 Prayer should be the key of the day, and the lock 

of the night 

3928 Precious things are not found in heaps 

3929 Presumption first blinds a man, and then sets him a 

running 

3930 Prettiness is short lived 

3931 Prettiness makes no pottage 

3932 Prevention is much preferable to cure 

3933 Pride and poverty are ill met, yet often seen to- 

gether 

3934 Pride becomes not a rich man, but is insupportable 

in a poor man 

3935 Pride feels no frost 

3936 Pride goes before, shame follows after 

3937 Pride had rather go out of the way, than go be- 

hind 

3938 Pride increaseth our enemies, but putteth our 

friends to flight 

3939 Pride, joined with many virtues, choaks them all 

3940 Pride in prosperity turns to misery in adversity 

3941 Pride is as loud a beggar as want, and a great deal 

more saucy 

3942 Pride is scarce ever cured 

3943 Pride is the most uneasy thing in the world, and 

the most odious 

3944 Pride is the sworn enemy to content 

3945 Pride is to be feared, even in good actions 

3946 Pride loves no man, and is beloved of no man 

3947 Pride may lurk under a thread-bare cloak 

3948 Pride, perceiving humility honourable, often bor- 

rows her cloak 

3949 Pride scorns a director, and choler a counsellor 

3950 Pride scorns the vulgar, yet lies at its mercy 

3951 Pride seldom leaves its master without a fall 

3952 Pride will practise any thing rather than let her 

port decline 

3953 Pride will spit in pride's face 



119 

3954 Proffered service stinks 

3955 Promised relief is always welcome 

3956 Promises engage more effectually than presents 

3957 Promises may get friends, but 'tis performances 

that keep them 

3958 Prospect is often better than possession 

3959 Prosperity and vanity are often lodged together 

3960 Prosperity often best discovers vices, and adversity 

virtue 

3961 Prosperity destroys fools, and endangers the wise 

3962 Prosperity gets followers, but adversity distin- 

guishes them 

3963 Prosperity has damned more souls than all the de- 

vils together 

3964 Prosperity has every thing cheap 

3965 Prosperity knows not the worth of patience 

3966 Prosperity takes no counsel, and fears no calamity 

3967 Prosperous men seldom mend their faults 

3968 Proud men can't bear with pride in others 

3969 Proud peacocks ; all noise and shew 

3970 Providence directs the dice 

3971 Providence is better than rent 

3972 Providence is not purblind 

3973 Providence seems to have forgot the man to whom 

it sends but few friends 

3974 Prudence is not satisfied with May-be s 

3975 Prudent cruelty is better than foolish pity 

3976 Prudent pauses forward business 

3977 Public reproof hardens shame 

3978 Pull down thy hat on the windy side 

3979 Purposing without performing is mere fooling 

3980 Put a coward to his mettle, and he'll fight the 

devil 

3981 Put a poor man's penny, and a rich man's penny, 

into a purse, and they'll come out alike 

3982 Put another man's child into your bosom, and he'll 

creep out at your sleeves 

3983 Put no money in the scale against virtue 

3984 Put not an embroidered crupper on an ass 

3985 Put off your armour, and then shew your courage 

3986 Put your finger into the fire, and say, 'twas your 

ill fortune 

3987 Pylades and Orestes died long ago, and left no suc- 

cessors 



120 

3988 Quarrelling dogs come halting home 

3989 Quarrelling dogs should be kicked out of doors 

3990 Quarrels could not last long, were but prudence on 

one side 

3991 Quartan agues kill old men, and cure joung 

3992 Quick and nimble ; more like a bear than a squirrel 

3993 Quick at meat, quick at work 

3994 Quick landlords make careful tenants 

3995 Quick wits are generally conceited 

3996 Quiet persons are welcome every where 

3997 Quiet sleep feels no foul weather 

3998 Quite out of the hooks 

3999 Ragged colts may make fine horses 

4000 Raise up no spirits that you cannot conjure down 

again 

4001 Rash presumption is a ladder, which will break the 

mounter's neck 

4002 Rashness is not valour 

4003 Rashness may conquer, but its not likely it should 

4004 Raw leather will stretch 

4005 Reason, if we do not live by it, will serve to in- 

crease our shame and guilt 

4006 Reason is a firm foundation to build upon 

4007 H ebukes ought not to have a grain of salt more than 

of sugar 

4008 Regulate thy own passions, and bear those of 

others 

4009 Rejoice, Shrovetide, to-day, for to-morrow you'll 

be ashes 

4010 Rejoicing at men's misfortunes is, - in a degree, 

dancing at their funerals 

4011 Religion is the best armour in the world, but the 

worst cloak 

4012 Religion, without piety, hath done more mischief 

in the world than all other things put together 

4013 Remember the reckoning 

4014 Remember, thou art but a man 

4015 Remembering of old injuries invites new ones 

4016 Remove an old tree, and 3011'U kill it 

4017 Repentance is not to be measured by inches and 

hours 

4018 Repentance is the whip for fools 

4019 Repent of a good action, if you can 



m 

4020 Repetition is every where unacceptable, though it 

were in Homer 

4021 Reputation cracked, is a Venice glass broke 

4022 Reputation depends less upon ourselves than u 

fortune 

4023 Reputation is commonly measured by the acre 

4024 Reputation is often got without merit, and lost 

without crime 

4025 Reputation serves to virtue as light does to a picture 

4026 Reproof never does a wise man any harm 

4027 Resty horses must be roughly dealt with 

4028 Retrench your desires, instead of increasing your 

substance 

4029 Revenge in cold blood is the devil's own act and 

deed 

4030 Revenge is sharp sighted 

4031 Revenge never repairs an injury 

4032 Revenge, the longer it is delayed, the crueller it 

grows 

4033 Reynard is still Reynard, though he put on a cowl 

4034 Rich men, and fortunate men, have need of much 

prudence 

4035 Rich men feel misfortunes that fly over poor men's 

heads 

4036 Rich men have no faults 

4037 Rich men have often the hearts of poor men 

4038 Rich men long to be richer 

4039 Rich men's spots are covered with money 

4040 Riches abuse them, who know not how to use them 

4041 Riches alone make no man happy 

4042 Riches are but the baggage of fortune 

4043 Riches are gotten with pain, kept with care, and 

lost with grief 

4044 Riches have made more covetous men, than covet- 

ousness bath made rich men 

4045 Riches may at any time be left, but not poverty 

4046 Riches rule the roast 

4047 Riches serve a wise man, but command a fool 

4048 Riches rather enlarge than satisfy appetites 

4049 Riches well got. and well used, are a great blessing 

4050 Ride softly, that you may get home the sooner 

4051 Right eorai calls for no colouring 

4052 Right mixture makes good mortar 

4053 Right reckoning makes long friends 

G 



its 

4054 Right, Roger ; your sow's good mutton 

4055 Rigid justice is the greatest injustice 

4056 Rob Peter to pay Paul 

4057 Rolling stones gather no moss 

4058 Roman, virtue it was that rais'd the Roman glory 

4059 Rome was not built in a day 

4060 Roses have their prickles 

4061 Roughness may turn one's humour, but flattery one's 

stomach 

4062 Sacrifice not thy heart upon every altar 

4063 Sadness and gladness succeed each other 

4064 Sail, quoth the king; hold, saith the wind 

4065 Salt spilt, is seldom clean taken qp 

4066 Sampson was a strong man, yet could not pay 

money before he had it 

4067 Satires run faster than panegyrics 

4068 Save something for the man that rides on the white 

horse 

4069 Saving is getting 

4070 Sauce for a goose is sauce for a gander 

4071 Say not ill of the year till it be past 

4072 Scabby heads love not the comb 

4073 Scabby parents will have scurfy children 

4074 Scald not thy lips with another man's porridge 

4075 Scalded cats fear even cold water 

4076 Scandal will rub out like dirt when it is dry 

4077 Scanderbeg's sword must have Scanderbeg's arm 

4078 School distinctions are the impressions of the de- 

vil's cloven foot 

4079 Sceptres and suitors hate competitors 

4080 Scorners are an abomination to a sober man 

4081 Scorning is catching 

4082 Scratching is bad ; because it begins with pleasure, 

and ends with pain 

4083 Seamen are the nearest to death, and the farthest 

from God 

4084 Search not a wound too deep, lest thou make a 

new one 

4085 Search not for a good man's pedigree 

4086 Secret mines may take the town, when open bat- 

tery cannot 

4087 Seeing's believing, but feeling's the truth 

4088 Seek not to reform every one's dial by your watch 



123 

4089 Seek, till you find ; and you'll not lose your la- 

bour 

4090 Seek } r our salve, where you got your sore 

4091 Self do, self have 

4092 Self-exaltation is the fool's paradise 

4093 Self-love is a mote in every man's eye 

4094 Self-preservation is nature's first law 

4095 Sell not the bear's skin, before you have caught 

him 

4096 Send a fool to market, and a fool he'll return 

4097 Send not for a hatchet to break open an egg with 

4098 Send not to market for trouble 

4099 Send your noble blood to market, and see what it 

will buy 

4100 Serpents engender in still waters 

4101 Servants should put on patience, when they put on 

a livery 

4102 Servants will not be diligent, where the master's 

negligent 

4103 Serving one's own passions is the greatest slavery 

4104 Set a beggar on horseback, and he'll ride to the 

devil 

4105 Set a stool in the sun; when one knave rises, an- 

other comes 

4106 Set a thief to catch a thief 

4107 Set but this feather well to my arrow, and he'll 

certainly shoot the mark 

4108 Set hard heart against hard hap 

4109 Set the hare's head against the goose's giblets 

4110 Set not your loaf in till the oven's hot 

4111 Set not your house on fire, to be revenged of the 

moon 

4112 Seven hour's sleep will make a clown forget his 

design 

4113 Seven may be company, but nine are confusion 

4114 Shake a Leicestershire man by the collar, and you 

shall hear the beans rattle in his belly 

4115 Shall the goslins teach the goose to swim? 

4116 Shallow wits censure every thing that is beyond 

their depth 

4117 Share not pears with your master, either in jest or 

in earnest 

4118 Sharp stomachs make short devotion 

4119 She broke her elbow on her wedding-day 

.G2 



124 

4120 She can laugh and cry, both in a wind 

4121 She cannot leap an inch from a slut 

4122 She goes as if she cracked nuts with her U'» 

4123 She had rather kiss than spin 

4124 She has broke her pipkin 

4125 She has less beauty than her picture hath, and truly 

not much more wit 

4126 She hath a gad-bee in her tail 

4127 She hath a tympany with two heels 

4128 She hath other tow on her distaff 

4129 She is as common as a barber's chair 

4130 She is as quiet as a wasp in one's ear 

4131 She is like a cat, she will play with her own tail 

4132 She is neither maid, wife, nor widow 

4133 She is not so ugly as to fright one, nor so beautiful 

as to kill one 

4134 She looks like a cow-t — d stuck with primroses 

4135 She shines like a dry cow-t — d 

4136 She simpers like a frumenty-kettle 

4137 She spins a good thread, that brings up her daugh- 

ter well 

4138 She, that gazes much, spins not much 

4139 She, that hath an ill husband, shews it in her 

dress 
414;) She, that hath spice enough, may season as she 
likes 

4141 She, that is born a beauty, is half married 

4142 She, that is ashamed to eat at table, eats in private 

4143 She, that loseth her modesty and honesty, hath no- 

thing else worth losing 

4144 She, that marries ill, never wants something to say 

for it 

4145 She was a neat dame that washed the ass's face 

4146 She was so hungry, she could not stay for the par- 

son to say grace 

4147 She, who often looks at her face in the glass, thinks 

of her tail 

4148 She will as soon part with the cook as the porridge 

4149 She will scold the devil out of a haunted house 

4150 She will stay at home, perhaps, if her leg be broke 

4151 Shew me a liar, and I'll shew you a thief 

4152 Shew me a man without a spot, and I'll shew you 

a maid without a fault 
4103 Ships fear fire more than water 



125 

415* Short and sweet 

4155 Short pleasures, long pains 

4156 Short reckonings are soon cleared 

4157 Short shooting loses the game 

4158 Sick of the mulligrubs, with eating of chopped hay 

4159 Sickness is better than sadness 

4160 Sickness is felt, but health not at all 

4161 Sickness tells ns what we are 

4162 Sickness will spoil the happiness of an emperor, as 

well as mine 

4163 Silent men, like still waters, are deep and dan- 

gerous 

4164 Silence catches a mouse 

4165 Silence gives consent 

4166 Silence is a line jewel for a woman, but its little 

worn 

4167 Silence is a good receipt against such faults as may 

cause offence 

4168 Silence is not the greatest vice of a woman 

4169 Silence is wisdom, when speaking is lolly 

4170 Silence seldom hurts 

4171 Silks and satins put out the kitchen fire 

417*2 Siiiy dogs are more angry with the stone, than with 
the hand that flung it 

4173 Sim steals the horse, and carries home the bridle 

honestly 

4174 Since he cannot be revenged on the as?, be 

upon the pack 

4175 Since you have b -en a correcting of me, I have 

told a hundred and twenty holes in your grater 

4176 Since you wrong'd me, you never had a good 

thought of me 

4177 Singularity always seems to have a spice of arro- 

gancy in it 

4178 Sin is sin, whether it be seen or no 

4179 Sins and debts are always more than we think 

them to be 

4180 Sit firm in thy place, and none ran hurt thee 

4181 Sit still, rather than rise and fall down 

4182 Skill is no burthen 

4183 Slander flings stones at itself 
4 1 84 Slander leaves a score behind 

4186 Slanderers are the devil's bellows; to blow up con- 
tention 

- f *> 



126 

4186 Sleeping all the morning makes it night till noon 

4187 Sleeping foxes have nothing falling into their 

mouths 

4188 Slow and sure, like Pedley's mare 

4189 Sluggards are never great scholars 

4190 Sluts are good enough to make a sloven's porridge 

4191 Small faults indulged are little thieves, that let in 

greater 

4192 Small pitchers have wide ears 

4193 Small rain lays a great dust 

4194 Small wounds, if many, may be mortal 

4195 So I be warm, let the people laugh 

4196 So many countries, so many customs 

4197 So many men, so many minds 

4198 So much is mine as I enjoy, and give away for 

God's sake 

4199 So, now you act like yourself, and nobody will 

trust you 

4200 So the miracle be wrought, what matter if the devil 

did it? 

4201 So yourself be good, a fig for your grandfather 

4202 Soft fire makes sweet malt 

4203 Soft words are hard arguments 

4204 Soft words break no bones 

4205 Soft words hurt not the mouth 

4206 Soldiers are martyrs to ambition 

4207 Soldiers in peace are chimneys in summer 

4208 Solitude dulls the thought, too much company dis- 

sipates it 

4209 Solitude makes us love ourselves, conversation 

others 

4210 Some are atheists only in fair weather 

4211 Some are very busy, and yet do nothing 

4212 Some fish, some frogs 

4213 Some had rather guess at much, than take pains 

to hear a little 

4214 Some have been thought brave, because they were 

afraid to run away 

4215 Some injure all they fear, and hate all they injure 

4216 Some men's no is better received than others yea 

4217 Some save-alls do well in a house 

4218 Some stomachs nauseate even sweet-meats 

4219 Some, that speak no ill of any, do no good to 

any 



127 

4220 Some will lose rather their best friend, than their 

worst joke 

4221 Some wits can digest before others can chew 

4222 Some would play a tune, before you can tune your 

fiddle 

4223 Something hath some savour 

4224 Sometimes it costs a great deal to do mischief 

4225 Sometimes its better to give your apple than eat 

it yourself 

4226 Sometimes you are like the dog and cat, and some- 

times like the monkey and his clog 

4227 Soon got, soon spent 

4228 Soon hot, soon cold 

4229 Soon ripe, soon rotten 

4230 Sorrow comes unsent for 

4231 Sorrow for a husband, is like a pain in the elbow, 

sharp and short 

4232 Sorrow is good for nothing but sin 

4233 Sour grapes can ne'er make sweet wine 

4234 Sow good works, and thou shalt reap gladness 

4235 Sow wheat in dirt, and rye in dust 

4236 Spaniels that fawn when beaten, will never forsake 

men SaMoicrs 

4237 Spare at tiie brim, not at the bottom 

4238 Spare the rod, and spoil the child 

4239 Spare to speak, spare to speed 

4240 Spare your breath to cool your broth 

4241 Spare your rhetorick, and speak logic 

4242 Sparrows fight for corn, which is none of their 

own 

4243 Speak the truth, and shame the devil 

4244 Speak when you are spoke to ; come when you are 

called 

4245 Spears are not made of bulrushes 

4246 Speedy execution is the mother of good fortune 

4247 Spend :^nd be free, but make no waste 

4248 Spiders that kill a man, cure an ape 

4249 Split wine is worse thai? water 

4250 Spin not too fine a thread les?" it break in weaving 

up 

4251 Spit in your hand, and take faster hold 

4252 Spit not against heaven, 'twill fall back into thy 

own face 

4253 Spur not a free horse to death 

~G 4 



m 

4:26 i Stake not thy head against another's hat 

4255 Stale cole wort in a fresh dish 

4250 Standers-by see more than the gamesters 

4257 Standing* pools gather filth 

4258 Stars are not seen by sun-shine 

4259 Stay till you have sheep before you shear them 

4260 Step after step the ladder is ascended 

4261 Steer not after every mariner's direction 

4262 Still he fisheth that catcheth one 

4263 Stop a little to make an end the sooner 

4264 Straight trees have crooked roots 

4265 Strength of body is none of the virtues 

4266 Strike while the iron is hot 

4267 Striking and not making it felt, is anger lost 

4268 Strive not against the stream 
4260 Study sickness while you are well 

4270 Stumble at a straw, and leap over a block 

4271 Stumbling often, is a sign of falling quite 

4272 Subtilty setup a trap, and catch'd itself 

4273 Success is never blamed 

4274 Such a beginning, such an ending 

4275 Such a father, such a son 

£276 Such a pot must have such a lid 

4277 Such a reason pissed my goose 

4278 Such a welcome, such a farewell 

4279 Such as the priest, such is the clerk 

4280 Such as the tree, such is the fruit 

4281 Sudden friendship, sure repentance 

4282 Sudden glory soon goes out 

4283 Sudden joy kills sooner than excessive grief 

4284 Sudden passions are bard to be managed 

4285 Sue a beggar, and catch a louse 

4286 Suffering for a friend doublet!] the friendship 

4287 Superstition renders a man a fool, and scepticism 

makes him mad 

4288 Supine facility and good nature are vastly differ- 

ent 

4289 Sure he's a lawyer, for he makes indentures as he 

goes 

4290 Surely she wears low-heel'd shoes, she's apt to 

fall backwards 

4291 Sure that's a butcher's horse, he carries a calf so 
wel 

4292 Surgeons cut that they may cure 



129 

4293 Surgeons must have an eagle's eye, a lion's heart, 

and a lady's band 

4294 Surgeons ought not to he full of sores themselves 

4295 Suspicion may be no fault, but shewing it may be a 

great one 

4296 Sweep before your own door 

4297 Sweet-heart, and honey-bird, keeps no house 

4298 Sweet meats must have sour sauce 

4299 Swine, bees, and women, cannot be turned 

4300 Sympathy of manners maketh conjunction of minds 

4301 Tailors and writers must mind the fashion 

4302 Tailors shreds are worth cutting 

4303 Take all, and pay the baker 

4304 Take an hair of the same dog that bit you 

4305 Take away fuel, and you take away fire 

4300 Take away my good name, and take away my life 

4307 Take courage, younger than thou have been hanged 

4308 Take heart of grace, younger thou shalt never be 

4309 Take heed you find not what you do not seek 

4310 Take hold of a good minute 

4311 Take me upon your back, and you'il know what I 

weigh 

4312 Take not a musket to kill a butterfly 

4313 Take time, while time is, for time will away 

4314 Take your venture, as many a good ship hath done 

4315 Tale-bearers are commonly a sort of half-witted men 

4316 Tales of Robin Hood are good enough for fools 

4317 Talking pays no toll 

4318 Talk much, and err much 

4319 Talk of camps, but stay at home 

4320 Tarry long brings little home 

4321 Teach your grannum to spin 

4322 Teach your grannum to suck eggs 

4323 Teaching of others, teacheth the teacher 

4324 Tell a lie, and find out the truth 

4325 Tell a tale to a mare, and she'll let a fart 

4326 Tell a woman she's a beauty, and the devil willtel 

her so ten times 

4327 Tell me it snows 

4328 Tell money after your own mother 

4329 Tell it well, or say nothing 

4330 Temperance, employment, and a cheerful spirit, are 

the great preservers of health 

'GO 



ISO 

4331 Temporizing is sometimes great wisdom 

4332 Tcnterden steeple was the cause of Goodwill *$ sands 

4333 That auger is not warrantable, that has seen two 

suns 

4334 That bolt never came out of your quiver 

4335 That cake came out of my oyen 

4336 That city cannot prosper, where an ox is sold for 

less than a fish 

4337 That dirt made this dust 

4333 That dog barks more out of custom, than care of 
the house 

4339 That falls out sometimes in a day, which never fell 

out before 

4340 That fire, that doth not warm me, I'll never permit 

to scorch me 

4341 That fire, which lighteth us at a distance, will burn 

us when near 
4312 That fish will soon be caught, that nibbles at every 
bait 

4343 That girdle will not gird me 

4344 That grief is light, which is capable of counsel 

4345 That groat is ill saved, that shames 1 he master 
4340 That hour is coming, when we shall more earnestly 

wish to gain time, than ever we studied to spend it 
4317 That is a prodigious plaister for so small a sore 

4348 That is a weak stall' to trust to 

4349 That is a woeful silly sheep, that goes to the wolf 

to confess 

4350 That is as likely, as to see an hog fly 

4361 That is as true as that the cat crew, and the cock 
recked the cradle 

4352 That is but an empty purse, that is full of other 

folks money 

4353 That is but a slippery happiness, that fortune can 

give, and fortune can take away 

4354 That is good sport, that fills the belly 
* 1355 That is no easy pill to be swallowed 

4356 That is not ours, that is got by unlawful means 

4357 That is not thine, which fortune made thine 

4358 That is the bird that I would catch 

4359 That is the bitterness of a gift, that it deprives us of 

our liberty 

4360 That is the old tune upon the bagpipe 
436} That is the way to beggar's bush 



131 

4362 That is the upper end, where the chief person sits 

4363 That is true, which all men say 

4364 That is well spoken, which is well taken 

4365 That man is well bought, who costs but a salutation 

4366 That man sins charitably, who damns none but 

himself 

4367 That mischief comes justly, that is of your own 

seeking 

4368 That patient is not like to recover, who makes the 

doctor his heir 

4369 That penny's well spent that saves a groat 

4370 That rabbit's mad, that makes a league with the 

ferrit 

4371 That sick man is not to be pitied, who hath his 

cure in his sleeve 

4372 That sort of tympany, which requires nine months 

for cure 

4373 That trial is not fair, where affection is judge 

4374 That war only is just, which is necessary 

4375 That was new, in last year's new almanack 

4376 That, which hath its value from fancy, is not very 

valuable 

4377 That which a man causes to be done, he does him- 

self 

4378 That which is bred in the bone, will never be out 

of the flesh 

4379 That, which is easily done, is soon believed 

4380 That, which is one man's meat, is another man's 

poison 

4381 That, which is well done, is twice done 

4382 That, which makes wise men modest, makes fools 

unmannerly 

4383 That, which may fall out at any time, may fall out 

to-day 

4384 That, which proves too much, proves nothing 

4385 That, which was bitter to endure, may be sweet to 

remember 

4386 That, which we may live without, we need not 

much covet 

4387 That, which will not be butter, must be made into 

cheese 

4388 That, which will not make a pot, may make a pot- 

lid 

4389 That, which you sow, you must reap 



132 

4390 The absent party is still faulty 

4391 The absurdest tongue that is can disparage 

4392 The absurd vulgar tastes all things by the ear 

4393 The abuse of riches is worse than the want of them 

4394 The amity, which wisdom uniteth not, folly will 

untie 

4395 The anvil fears no blows 

4396 The ape hugs her darling till she kills it 

4397 The applause of the people is a blast of air 

4398 The army, that comes oil* best, loses some 

4399 The ass brays when he pleases 

4400 The ass, that carrieth wine, drinketh water 

4401 The axe goes to that wood, where it borrowed its 

helve 

4402 The back-door robbeth the house 

4403 The bait hides the hook 

4404 The balance will decide the matter 

4405 The bee, from her industry in the summer, eats 

honey all the winter 

4406 The belief and hope of heaven, is a sufficient en- 

couragement to virtue, w hen all others fail 

4407 The belly hates a long sermon 

4408 The belly hath no cars 

4409 The belly that's full may well fast 

4410 The best cart may overthrow 

441 1 The best cloth may have a moth in it 

4412 The best fish swim deep 

4413 The best is at the bottom 

4414 The best is the best cheap 

4415 The best metal, is iron ; the best vegetable, wheat ; 

but the worst animal, is man 

4416 The best medals lose their lustre, unless brightened 

by use 

4417 The best patch is off the same cloth 

4418 The best remedy of afflictions, is submitting to Pro- 

vidence 

4419 The best surgeon is he, that has been well hacked 

himself 

4420 The best things are hard to come by 

4421 The best way to see Divine light, is to put out thy 

own candle 

4422 The better day, the better deed 
.4423 The better-natured, the sooner undone 

4424 The better workman, the worse husband 



4425 The biggest horses are not the best travellers 

4426 The bitch, that I mean, is not a dog 

4427 The black ox never yet trod upon your feet 

4428 The blind eat many a fly 

4429 The body is the workhouse of the soul 

4430 The boughs that bear most, hang lowest 

4431 The brains don't lie in the beard 

4432 The brains of a fox will be of little service, if you 

play with the paw of a lion 

4433 The breast-plate of innocence is not always scan- 

dal-proof 

4434 The brightest of all things, the sun, hath its spots 

4435 The brother had rather see his sister rich, than 

make her so 

4436 The burnt child dreads the fire 

4437 The busy brain, that sows not corn, sows thistles 

4438 The butcher looked for his knife, when he had it in 

his mouth 

4439 The camel going to get horns, lost his ears 

4440 The cart before the horse 

4441 The cat invites the mouse to a feast 

4442 The cat knows whose lips she licks 

4443 The cat sees not every mouse 

4444 The chamber of sickness is the chapel of devo- 

tion 

4445 The chapel is not so little, but the priest may say 

service in it 

4446 The cheap buyer takes bad meat 

4447 The chickens are the country's, but the city eats 

them 

4448 The chief end of man, is not to get money 

4449 The child saith nothing but what he heard at the 

fire-side 

4450 The church is out of temper, when charity waxetli 

cold, and zeal hot 

4451 The clock goes as it pleaseth the clerk 

4452 The coin ihat is most current among us, is flattery 

4453 The collier and his money are both black 

4454 The comforter's head never aches 

4455 The commandments have made as many good mar- 

tyrs as the creed 

4456 The common hackney-horse is the worst shod 

4457 The company-keeper has almost as many snares as 

companions 



134 

4458 The complaints of the present time* is the general 

complaint of all times 

4459 The conquered is never called wise, nor the con- 

queror rash 

4460 The crane suckled the ass . 

4461 The credit that is got by a lie lasts no longer than 

liil the truth comes out 

4462 The cross on the breast, and the devil in the heart 

4463 The crow th:nks her own bird fairest 

4464 The crutch of time does more than the club of 

Hercules 

4465 The cuckold was very cunning, but he was more 

cunning that cuck oiled him 

4466 The day of our birth is one day's advance towards 

our death 

4467 The day that a man knows he commits a sin he 

condemns himsel! 

4468 The day that you do a good thing there will be 

seven new moons 

4469 The dead, and only they, should do nothing 

4470 The dead are not quite gone away from fortune 

4471 The dead are past feeling 

4472 The dearer it is, the cheaper it is to me; for I shall 

buy the less 

4473 The death of your first wife made such an impres- 

sion in your heart, that all the rest tly through 

4474 The death of youth is a shipwreck 

4475 The devil doth not lie dead in a ditch 

4476 The devil gets up to the belfry by the vicar's skirt* 

4477 The devil hath owed me a cake of a long time, and 

now hath paid me a loaf 
447S The devil himself is good, when he is pleased 

4479 The devil is a busy bishop in his own diocese 

4480 The devil is always a buying our souls of us 

4481 The devil is never nearer, than when we are talk- 

ing of him 

4482 The devil is not always at one door 

4483 The devil is the perfectest courtier 

4484 The devil lies brooding in the miser's chest 

4485 The devil rebukes sin 

4486 The devil's behind the cross 

4487 The devil's flour is half bran 

4488 The discreet hand doth not do all that the tongue 

says 



135 

4480 The disobedience of the patient makes the physi- 
cian seem cruel 

4490 The drunkard continually assaults his own life 

4491 The dust, raised by the sheep, does not choak the 

wolf 

4492 The early sower never borrows of the late 

4493 The earth produces all things, and receives all 

again 

4494 The earthen pot must keep clear of the brass 

kettle 

4495 The ebb will fetch off what the tide brings in 

4496 The end makes all equal 

4497 The end. of fishing is not angling, but catching 

4498 The end of passion is the beginning of repentance 

4499 The entreaty of a great man is putting of a force 

upon us 

4500 The envious hurts others something, but himself 

very much 
4601 The envious man's face grows sharp, and his eyes 
big 

4502 The epicure puts his purse into his belly ; and the 

miser his belly into his purse 

4503 The eternal talker neither hears nor learns 
4604 The evening crowns the day 

4505 The evil that cometh out of thy mouth flieth into 

thy bosom 

4506 The eye is the pearl of the face 

4507 The eye, that sees all things else, sees not itself 

4508 The eyes, the ears, the tongue, the hands, the feet, 

they all fast in their way 

4509 The exposition is better than the text 

4510 The face should give leave to the tongue to speak 

4511 The failings of other men accuse us of frailty 

4512 The fairer the hostess, the fouler the reckoning 

4513 The fairer the paper, the fouler the blot 

4514 The fairest-looking shoe may pinch the foot 

4515 The fairest rose at last is withered 

4516 The fairest silk is the soonest stained 

4517 The family of the public-spirited men is always ex- 

tinct 

4518 The father sighs more at the death of one son, than 

he smiles at the birth of many 

4519 The fault of the ass must not be laid on the pack- 

saddle 



136 

4520 The favour of great men, and praise of the world, 

are not much to be relied on 

4521 The file grates other things, but rubs itself out too 

4522 The fly, that playeth too long in the candle, singeth 

her wings at last 

4523 The fire that burnetii taketh out the heat of a 

burn 

4524 The first breath is the beginning of death 

4525 The first chapter of fools is to esteem themselves 

wise 

4526 The first cut, and all the loaf besides 
4 >27 The first dish pleaseth all 

4528 The first faults are theirs that commit them ; the 

second theirs that permit them 

4529 The first men in the world were a gardener, a 

ploughman, a grazier 

4530 The first pig, but the last whelp of the litter, is 

best 

4531 The first step to a good name is a good life, and the 

next is good behaviour 

4532 The first step to virtue is to love virlue in another 

man 

4533 The first step towards virtue is to abstain from vice 

4534 The fish, by struggling in the net, hampers itself 

the more 

4535 The fish may be caught in a net, that will not come 

to a hook 

4536 The fork is commonly the rake's heir 

4537 The tool is busy in every one's business but his own 

4538 The fool runs away, while his house is burning 

down 

4539 The fool saith, Who would have thought it? 

4540 The fool wanders ; the wise man travels 

4541 The foot on the cradle ; the hands on the distaff 

4542 The fowler's pipe sounds sweet till the bird is 

caught 
4643 The fox fares best when he is most cursed 

4544 The fox knows much, but more he that catcheth 

him 

4545 The fox may grow grey, but never good 

4546 The iox praiseth the meat out of the crow's mouth 

4547 The fox's wiles w ill never enter into the lion's head 

4548 The friar preached against theft when he had a 

goose in his sleeve 



137 

45 £9 The frog sing's, and yet she has neither hair no* 

wool to cover her 
4550 The frost hurts not weeds 
4651 The frying-pan said to the kettle, avail nt black 

brows 
- "i52 The further you run, the further you are behind 

4553 The furthest way about, is the nearest way home 

4554 The gallows groans for you 

4-555 The generous man pays for nothing so much as 
what is given him 

4556 The golden age never was the present age 

4557 The good are joyful in the midst of poverty; but 

the wicked are sad in great riches 

4558 The good man of the house is the last that knows 

what's done nt home 

4559 The good you do is not lost, though you forget it 

4560 The gown's her's that wears it ; and the world his 

that enjoys it 

4561 The grandmother's correction makes no impres- 

sion 

4562 The grey mare is the better horse 

4563 The gra^e is the general meeting-place 

4564 The great and the little have need of one another 
45G5 Th ish the little ones 

4666 The greater the man, tfa the crime 

4567 The great I mot the: 

death 

4569 The greatest calf is not the sweetest i 

4570 The greatest clerks are not the wisest men 

4571 The greatest expense we can be at is^Hat of our 

time 

4572 The greatest favourites are in the most danger of 

falling 

4573 The greatest hate springs from the greatest love 

4574 The greatest learning is to be seen in the greatest 

plainness 

4575 The greatest mischief you can do the envious, is to 

do well 

4576 The greatest oaks have been little acorns 

4577 The greatest packs are not always the richest 
457S The greatest sounds are not the best music 

4579 The greatest things are done by the help of 

ones 

4580 The greatest vessel haih bnf its measure 



138 

4581 The greatest wealth is contentment with a little 

4582 The ground of true sorrow for sin is the love of 

God 

4583 The groundsil speaketh but what it heard of the 

hinges 

4584 The guilty man fears the law, the innocent man 

fortune 

4585 The guts uphold the heart, and not the heart the 

guts 

4586 The hare starts when a man least expects it 

4587 The head grey, and no brains yet 

4588 The heathen's fortune is the Christian's Provi- 

dence 

4589 The heathens, when they died, went to bed with- 

out a caudle 

4590 The hermit thinks the sun shines no where but in 

his cell 

4591 The higher an ape mounts, the more he shews his 

breech 

4592 The higher a poor man is raised, the giddier he is 

4593 The higher the hill, the lower the grass 

4594 The higher, the lower j and the more advanced, the 

more hu rnbie 

4595 The highest spoke in fortune's wheel may soon 

turn lowest 

4596 The highway is never about 

4597 The hiudermost dog catchetfa the hare 

4598 The hog is got into the honey pot 

4599 The hog never looks up to him that threshes down 

the» acorns 

4600 The holidays of joy are the vigils of sorrow 

4601 The librse next the mill carries all the grist 

4602 The horse, that draws his halter, is not quite 

escaped 

4603 The hungry belly thinks the throat cut 

4604 The hypocrite hurts himself, the libertine the whole 

society 

4605 The idle mill earns nothing 

4606 The jewel is not to be valued for the cabinet 

4607 The informer is the worst rogue of the two 

4608 The joy of Jerusalem depends upon the peace of 

Zion 

4609 The Isle of Wight hath no monks, lawyers, o* 

foxes ■ 



139 

4610 The judge is condemned when the criminal is ab- 

solved 

461 1 The kick of the dam hurts not the colt 

46*12 The kid, that keeps above, is in no danger of the 
wolf 

4613 The king can make a serjeant, but not a lawyer 

4614 The king may bestow offices, but cannot bestow 

wit to manage them 

4615 The king may give thee honour, but thou art to 

make thyself honourable 

4616 The king of good-tellows is appointed for the queen 

of beggars 

4617 The king's cheese goes half away in parings 

4618 The king's favour is no inheritance 

4619 The lame tongue gets nothing 

4620 The lame post brings the truest news 

4621 The lapwing cries most when furthest from her 

nest 

4622 The last benefit is most remembered 
46*23 The laste\il smarts most 

4624 The last suitor wins the maid 

4625 The last taste of things gives them the name of sweet 

or sour 

4626 The laundress washeth her own smock first 

4627 The lazy servant, to save one step, goes eight 

4628 The least and weakest man can do some hurt 

4629 The least boy carries the biggest fiddle 

4630 The less wit a man has, the less he knows that he 

wants it 

4631 The lesser the temptation, the greater the sin 

4632 The little wimble will let in the great auger 

4633 The longest day must bave an end 

4634 The longest life is but a parcel of moments 

4635 The loquacity of fools is a lecture to the wise 

4636 The love of the wicked is more dangerous than 

their hatred 

4637 The low stakes stand long 

4638 The lower mill-stone grinds as much as the upper 

one 

4639 The lute is in the hand of him that knows how to 

play on it 

4640 The luxurious want many things, the covetous all 

things 
4611 The liar is sooner caught than the cripple 



140 

46 £2 The lion's not half so fierce as he is painted 

4643 The lion's skin is never cheap 

4644 The mad dog bites his master 

4645 The maintaining of one vice costeth more than ten 

\ nines 

4646 The man in the moon drinks claret 

4647 The master's eye makes the horse fat 

4648 The meekness of Moses is better than the strength 

of Sampson 

4649 The memory of a benefit soon vanisheth, but the 

remembrance of an injury sticketh fast in the 
heart 

4650 The memory of happiness makes misery woeful 

4651 The mill cannot grind with the water that is past 

4652 The mind is the man 

4653 The mob has many heads, but no brains 

4654 The moon is a moon still, whether it shine or not 

4655 The moon is made of green cheese 

4656 The more acquaintance, the more danger 

4657 The more cooks, the worse broth 

4658 The more danger, the more honour 

4659 The more friends, the more danger 

4660 The more haste, the worse speed 

4661 The more haste we make in a Wrong way, the 

farther we are from our journey's end 

4662 The more knave, the better fortune 

4663 The more laws, the more offenders 

4661 The more light a torch gives, the less while it 

lasts 
4665 The more il/oo?^, the greater the victory 
4656 The more riches a fool hath, the greater fool he is 

4667 The more, the merrier ; the fewer, the better cheer 

4668 The more wit, the less courage 

4669 The more women look into their glass, the less they 

look into their hearts 

4670 The more you stir, the more you stink 

4671 The most exquisite folly is made of wisdom too fine 

spun 

4672 The most lamentable spectacle in the world is a 

dead man 

4673 The most lasting monuments are doubtless the 

paper- monuments 

4674 The most penitent anchorite has now and then. a, 

small flight of vanity 



141 

4675 The mother-in-law remembers not that she was & 

daughter-in-law 

4676 The mother knows best, whether the child be like 

the father 

4677 The motions of passion, and of conscience, are two 

things 

4678 The mountains have brought forth a mouse 

4679 The mouse, that hath but one hole, is easily caught 

4680 The multitude of offenders is their protection 

4681 The muses love the morning 

4682 The nature of things will not be altered by our fan- 

cies of them 

4683 The nearer the church, the farther from God 

4684 The noblest remedy of injuries is oblivion 

4685 The noisy drum hath nothing in it but mere air 

4686 The noisy fowler catches no birds 

4687 The number of the malefactors authorizes not the 

crime 

4688 The nurse is valued, till the child has done sucking 

4689 The old horse must die in somebody's keeping 

4690 The old man's staff is the rapper at Death's door 

4691 The old withy tree would have a new gate hnng at 

it 

4692 The old woman would never have look VI for her 

daughter in the oven, had she not been there her- 
self 

4693 The older a fool is, the worse he is 

4694 The only way to be sure of not losing a child is 

never to have any 

4695 The only way to know and to serve God is to be 

like him 

4696 The orange that is too hard squeez'd yields a bit- 

ter juice 

4697 The owl is not accounted the wiser for living re- 

tiredly 

4698 The owl thinks all her young ones beauties 

4699 The ox when he is weary treads surest 

4700 The paleness of the pilot is a sign of a stonn 

4701 The parings of a pippin are better than a whole 

crab 

4702 The passions are like fire and water ; good servants, 

but bad masters 

4703 The patient hath more need of the physician than 

the physician of the patient 



142 

4704 The people will worship even a calf, if it be a gol- 

den one 

4705 The pine wishes herself a shrub, when the axe i* 

at her root 

4706 The pitcher that goes often to the well, comes home 

broken at last 

4707 The pleasures of the rich are bought with the tears 

of the poor 

4708 The pleasure of this world consists in having ne- 

cessaries, not superfluities 

4709 The pleasures of what we enjoy is lost by covet- 

ing more 

4710 The plough goes not well if the ploughman hold it not 

4711 The poet, of all sorts of artificers, is the fondest of 

his works 

4712 The poor keep a continual fast 

4713 The poor man has his corn destroyed by hail every 

year 

4714 The poor man turns his cake, and another come* 

and eats it 

4715 The poor man's penny, unjustly detained, is a coal 

of fire in a rich man's purse 

4716 The poor man's shilling is but a penny 

4717 The poorest meat requires some dress 

4718 The present fashion is alway handsome 

4719 The prick of a pin is enough to make an empire 

insipid for a time 

4720 The reward of unlawful pleasure is lawful pain 

4721 The priest forgets he was a clerk 

4722 The prodigal robs his heir, the miser himself 

4723 The proof of a pudding is in the eating 

4724 The poof of obedience is found in small matter* 

more than in great 

4725 The proudest vice is ashamed to wear its own face 

long 

4726 The purest gold is most ductile 

4727 The purse-strings are the most common ties of 

friendship 

4728 The race is got by running 

4729 The raven said to the rook, stand away, black coat 

4730 The revenge of an idiot is without mercy 

4731 The reward of love, is jealousy 

4732 The rich are trustees under God for the poor 

4733 The rich follow wealth, and the poor the rich 



143 

4734 The rich need not beg a welcome 

4735 The rich never want for kindred 

4736 The rich poor man is emphatically poor 

4737 The rich widow cries with one eye, and laughs with 

the other 

4738 The righteous find peace, when the wicked feel 

torment 

4739 The road is not bad, if I get home well 

4740 The sea complains for want of water 

4741 The sea refuses no river 

4742 The second blow makes the fray 

4743 The second vice is lying, the first being that of 

owing money 

4744 The selvidge sheweth the cloth 

4745 The shirt is nearer than the coat 

4746 The sign invites you in, but your money must re- 

deem you out 

4747 The singing man keeps his shop in his throat 

4748 The slothful man is the beggar's brother 

4749 The sluggard makes his night till noon 

4750 The sluggard's convenient season never comes 

475 1 The small cart creaks, as the heavy wain should do 

4752 The smaller the drink, the cooler the blood, and 

the clearer the head 

4753 The smallness of the kitchen makes the house the 

bigger 

4754 The smith hath always a spark in his throat 

4755 The smoke follows the fair 

4756 The smoke of one's own house, is better than the 

fire at another's 

4757 The snail slides up the tower at last, though the 

swallow mounteth it not 

4758 The society of ladies is a school of politeness 

4759 The sole holdeth with the upper leather 

4760 The sooty oven mocks the black chimney 

4761 The soul is not where it lives, but where it loves 

4762 The soul of a choleric man sits ever by the fire-side 

4763 The soul payeth soundly for house-room in the body 

4764 The spaniel, that fawneth when he is beaten, will 

never forsake his master 

4765 The sparrow builds in the martin's nest 

4766 The spider lost her distaff, and is ever since forced 

to draw her thread through her tail 

4767 The still sow eats up all the draft 



144 

4788 The stillest humours are always the worst 

4769 The sting of a reproach is the truth of it 

4770 The stone, that lieth not in your way, need not of- 

fend you 

4771 The stream can never rise above the springhead 

4772 The study of vain things is laborious idleness 

4773 The subject's love is the king's best guard 

4774 The sun can be seen by nothing but its own light 

4775 The sun has stood still, but time never did 

4776 The sun is never the worse for shining on a dung- 

hill 

4777 The sun is still beautiful, though ready to set 

4778 The sun may do its duty, though your grapes are 

not ripe 

4779 The swan sings, when death comes 

4780 The sweat of Adam's brow hath streamed down 

ours ever since 

4781 The sweetest wine makes the sharpest vinegar 

4782 The table is a great robber 

4783 The tale runs, as it pleases the teller 

4784 The taste of the kitchen is better than the smell 

4785 The tatter's tongue is ever dancing a silly jig 

4786 The tailor, that makes not a knot, loseth a stitch 

4787 The tears of a whore, and the oaths of a bully, may 

be put in the same bottle 

4788 The thief is sorry he is to be hanged, but not that 

he is a thief 

4789 The thief's wife laugheth not always 

4790 The thought has good wings, and the quill a good 

tongue 

4791 The thread leads to the bottom 

479*2 The thrush, avoiding the trap, fell into birdlime 

4793 The thunder hath but its clap 

4794 The time to come is no more ours than the time 

past 

4795 The tongue breaketh the bone though it hath none 

itself 

4796 The tongue is ever turning to the aching tooth 

4797 The tongue is not still, yet it cuts sorely 

4798 The tongue is the rudder of our ship 

4799 The tongue of a fool carves a piece of his heart to 

all that sit near him 

4800 The tongue oi idle persons is never idle 

4801 The tongue talks at the head's cost 



145 

4802 The touch-stone distinguishes between gold and 

brass 

4803 The town-bull is as much a bachelor as he 

4804 The tree is no sooner down, but every one runs for 

his hatchet 

4805 The true gentleman is God's servant, the world's 

master, and his own man 

4806 The two principal things are wisdom and health 

4807 The venom of a viperous tongue may be converted 

into treacle t 

4808 The very best men stand in need of pardon 

4809 The very falling of leaves frights hares 

4810 The vicar of Bray will be vicar of Bray still 

4811 The unfortunate are counted fools 

4812 The voice of an ass will never reach heaven 

4813 The usefullest truths are the plainest 

4814 The usual trade and commerce, is cheating all 

round by consent 

4815 The usurer and younker are cat and mouse 

4816 The vulgar will keep no account of your hits, but 

of your misses 

4817 The water that comes from the same spring cannot 

be fresh and salt both 

4818 The way to avoid great faults is to beware of less 

4819 The way to Babylon will never bring you to Jeru- 

salem 

4820 The way to be safe is never to be secure 

4821 The way to live much is to begin to live well be- 

times 

4822 The weakest and most timorous are the most re- 

vengeful and implacable 

4823 The weakest go to the wall 

4824 The wearer only knows where the shoe hurts him 

4825 The whole ocean is made up of single drops 

4826 The wicked grow worse, and good men better for 

trouble 

4827 The wicked heart never fears God, but when it 

thunders 

4828 The wife is the key of the house 

4829 The wind blows not always west 

4830 The wind is not in your debt, though it fills not 

your sail 

4831 The wind keeps not always in one quarter 

4832 The wind that blows out candles kindles the fire 
' li 



146 

4833 The wise man draws more advantage from his ene- 

mies, than a fool from his friends 

4834 The wise man, even when he holds his tongue, says 

more than the fool when he speaks 

4835 The wise man is born to rule the fool 

4836 The wit of you, and the wool of a blue dog, would 

make a very good medley 

4837 The wolf and fox are both privateers 

4838 The wolf doth something every week, that hinders 

him from going to church a Sunday 

4839 The wolf never wants for a pretence against a 

lamb 

4840 The wooing was a day after the wedding 

4841 The world is a ladder for some to go up, and some 

down 

4842 The world is a net ; the more we stir in it, the more 

we are entangled 

4843 The world is so much knave, that it holds ho- 

nesty to be a vice and a folly 

4844 The world is too narrow for two fools a quarreling 

4845 The world's busy man is the grand impertinent 

4846 The world would perish were all men learned 

4847 The worse luck now, the better another time 

4848 The worse the passage, the more welcome the 

port 

4849 The worst of men are those who will not forgive 

4850 The worst part of poverty is to bear it impatiently 

4851 The worst spoke in a cart breaks first 

4852 The wound that blecdeth inwardly is most dan- 

gerous 

4853 The wrath of brothers is fierce and devilish 

4854 There are as well serious follies as light ones 

4855 There are many rare abilities in the world, which 

fortune never brings to light 

4856 There are more lords in the world than fine gen- 

tlemen 

4857 There are more natural buffoons than artificial 

4858 There are more old drunkards than old physicians 

4859 There are more maids than Moggy, and more men 

than Jockey 

4860 There are more threatened than struck 

4861 There are more ways to the wood than one 

4862 There are more ways to kill a dog than hanging 

4863 There are no birds this year in last year's nest 



147 

4864 There are no coxcombs so troublesome as those 

that have some wit 

4865 There can be no friendship where there can be no 

freedom 

4866 There belongs more than whistling to a ploughman 

4867 There cannot be a more intolerable thing than a 

fortunate fool 

4868 There could be no great ones, if there were no 

little ones 

4869 There goes the wedge, where the beetle drives it 

4870 There I caught a knave in a purse-net 

4871 There is abundance of money spent to be laughed 

at 

4872 There is a bone for you to pick 

4873 There is a critical minute for all things 

4874 There is a deal of difference between love and 

gratefulness 

4875 There is a different fame goes about of every man 

4876 There is a fault in the house, but would you have 

it built without any ? 

4877 There is a knack of shewing we understand the 

matter, when we hold our peace 

4878 There is a medium betwixt all fool and all philo- 

sopher 

4879 There is a remedy for every thing, could we but 

hit upon it 

4880 There is a scarcity of friendship, but none of 

friends 

4881 There is a Rowland for your Oliver 

4882 There is a snako in the grass 

4883 There is a sort of pleasure in indulging of grief 

4884 There is something in it, quoth the fellow, when 

he drank dish-clout and all 

4885 There is a time to wink, as well as to see 

4886 There is a witness every where 

4887 There is as much greatness in owning a good turn, 

as in the doing of it 

4888 There is as much hold of his words, as of a wet 

eel's tail 

4889 There is but bad choice, where the whole stock is 

bad 

4890 There is chance in a cock's spur 

4891 There is no companion like the penny 

4892 There is craft in daubing 

^H 2 



148 

4893 There is difference between living long and suffei- 

ing long 

4894 There is falsehood in fellowship 

4895 There is God's poor, and the devil's poor ; the first 

from Providence, the other from vice 

4896 There is life in a muscle 

4897 There is little due to pleasure, but much to health 

4898 There is many a good wife that can't sing and dance 

well 

4899 There is more money got by ill means than by good 

acts 

4900 There is more pleasure in loving, than in being be- 

loved 

4901 There is much more learning than knowledge in 

the world 

4902 There is no adding to fr-iidamcntals 

4903 There is no art that can make a fool wise 

4904 There is no banquet, but some dislike something 

in it 

4905 There is no better looking-glass than an old friend 

4906 There is no condition, but what sits well upon a 

wise man 

4907 There is no difference of bloods in a bason 

4908 There is no disputing of tastes, appetites, and 

fancies 

4909 There is no fence against a panic fright 

4910 There is no going to heaven in a sedan 

4911 There is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the 

fingers 

4912 There is no man so bad, but has a secret respect 

for the good 

4913 There is no more hold of a new friend, than of a 

new fashion 

4914 There is no need of a ferret to catch an harlot 

4915 There is no piety in keeping an unjust promise 

4916 There is no plea for the wilful 

4917 There is no put so ugly, that a cover cannot be 

found for it 

4918 There is no relying on a starry sky 

4919 There is no remedy for all evils but death 

4920 There is no reputation so clear, but a slanderer 

may stain it 

4921 There is no short cut of a way, without some ill 

way 



149 

4922 There is no such flatterer as a man's self 

4923 There is no sufficient recompense for an unjust 

slander 

4924 There is no true holiness without humility 

4925 There is no usual rule without an exception 

4926 There is no woe like to want 

4927 There is no wool so white, but a dyer can make it 

black 

4928 There is none deceived, but he that trusteth 

4929 There is none so simple, but can give counsel 

4930 There is not always good cheer where the chimney 

smokes 

4931 There is not a hair so small but hath its shadow 

4932 There is not so much comfort in the having of chil- 

dren, as there is sorrow in parting with them 

4933 There is not the thickness of a sixpence between 

good and evil 

4934 There is nothing more precious than time, and no- 

thing more prodigally wasted 

4935 There is reason in roasting of eggs 

4936 There is small difference (to the eye of the world) 

in being nought, and being thought so 

4937 There is some difference between Peter and Peter 

4938 There is some virtue or other to be exercised, 

whatever happens 

4939 There is winter enough for the snipe and wood- 

cock too 

4940 There maybe blue, and better blue 

4941 There may be such things as old fools and young 

counsellors 

4942 There must be two at least to a quarrel 

'4943 There needs a long apprenticeship to understand 
the mystery of the world's trade 

4944 There never wants a ragged one for one that's 

ripped 

4945 There were no ill language, if it were not ill taken 

4946 There were such black swans formerly, as truth 

and honesty 

4947 Therefore a man is a cuckold, because two are too 

hard for one 

4948 They agree like bells; they want nothing but 

hanging 
4499 They agree like dogs and cats coupled 
4950 They agree like Lyndon clocks 
H 3 



150 

4951 They are clove and orange 

4952 They are finger and thumb 

4953 They are hand and glove 

4954 They are like bells ; every one in a several note 

4955 They are little to be feared, whose tongues are 

their swords 

4956 They are not all saints that use holy water 

4957 They are rich who have true friends 

4958 They are scarce of horses, where two ride on a 

dog 

4959 They are so like, that both are the worse for it 

4960 They both put their hands in one glove 

4961 They cannot set their horses together 

4962 They complain wrongfully of Neptune, that twice 

suffered shipwreck 

4963 They have begun a dispute, which the devil will 

not let them make an end of 

4964 They have great need of a blessing, that kneel to a 

thistle 

4965 They hurt themselves, that wrong others 

4966 Thry love dancing well, that dance bavefoot upoii 

thorns 

4967 They may sit in the chair, who have malt to sell 

4968 They must hunger in winter, that will not work in 

summer 

4969 They need much, whom nothing will content 

4970 They say so, is half a lie 

4971 They seldom live well, who think they shall live 

long 

4972 They, that are bound, must obey 

4973 They, that are full themselves, are wise only for 

want of thinking 

4974 They, that burn you for a Witch, lose all their coals 

4975 They, that buy an office, must sell something 

4976 They, that command the most, enjoy themselves 

the least 

4977 They, that desire but a few things, can be crossed 

but in few 

4978 They, that do nothing, learn to do ill 

4979 They, that fear an overthrow, are half beaten 

4980 Thev, that have good store of butter, may lay it on 

thick 

4981 They, that hide, can find 

4982 They, that live longest, must go farthest for wood 



151 

4983 They, that live longest, must die at last 

4984 They, that talk like philosophers, are often observed 

to act like fools 

4985 They, that value not praise, will never do any thing 

worthy of praise 

4986 They, that walk in the sun, must be content to be 

tanned 

4987 They were both equally bad, so the devil put them 

together 

4988 They, who cannot do as they would, must do as 

they can 

4989 Then I'll thatch Grooly Pool with pancakes 

4990 Things above thy height are to be looked at, not 

reached at 

4991 Things hardly attained are long retained 

4992 Things not understood are admired 

4993 Things that are accidents to us, are providences to 

God 

4994 Things that differ in the end will part in the way 

4995 Think of thy deliverance, as well as of thy danger 
499S This and better may do. but this *?* ZZZZ „\\\ 

never do 

4997 This blustering can never untile my house 

4998 This day is yours, but whose shall to-morrow be ? 

4999 This day there is no trust, but come to-morrow 

5000 This, or any moment, may be your last 

5001 This world is ever running its round 

5002 Though a coat be never so fine that a fool wears, 

yet 'tis but a fool's coat 

5003 Though all men were made of one metal, yet they 

were not cast all in the same mould 

5004 Though love is blind, yet 'tis not for want of eyes 

5005 Though malice may darken truth, it cannot put it 

out 
500G Though modesty be a virtue, yet bash fulness is a 
vice 

5007 Though the cat winks, she is not blind 

5008 Though the fox runs, the chickens have wings 

5009 Though the generous man care the lea.it for wealth, 

yet he will be the most galled with the waiit pf it 

5010 Though the heavens be glorious, yet they are not 

all stars 

5011 Though the mastiff be gentle, yet bite him not by 

the lip 

'h 4 



159 

5012 Though the sauce be good, yet you need not for- 

sake the meat for it 

5013 Though the sore be healed, yet a scar may remain 

5014 Though the sun shines, take your cloak 

5015 Though thy enemy seem a mouse, yet watch him 

like a lion 
5010 Though thy water be never so muddy, don't say, 
I'll never drink of it 

5017 Though you are bound to love your enemy, 3 ou are 

not bound to put your sword in his hand 

5018 Though you stroak the nettle never so kindly, yet 

it will sting you 

5019 Those are miserable pleasures that must end in 

pain 

5020 Those are praised most, that are praised without 

any interest 

5021 Those see nothing but faults, that seek for nothing 

else 

5022 Those, that are in love, think other people's eyes 

out 
SC22 T! M,W ?, *^ n * SF6 always angry, are little regarded 

5024 Those', that are stung by the scorpion, are healed 

by the scorpion 

5025 Those, that complain of every thing, never want 

the head-ache 

5026 Those, that eat cherries with great persons, shall 

have thvir eyes squirted out with the stones 

5027 Those, that eat the best and drink the best, com- 

monly do worst 

5028 Those, that have much business, must have much 

pardon 

5029 Those, that make the best use pf their time, have 

none to spare 

5030 Those, that too much reverence the ancients, are a 

scorn to the moderns 

5031 Thorns make the greatest crackling 

5032 Thou art as like to obtain thy wish, as the wolf is 

to eat the moon 

5033 Thou canst not fly high with borrowed wings 

5034 Thou canst not serve God, unless thy mammon 

serve thee 

5035 Thou shalt have moonshine in thy mustard-pot 

for it 

5036 Threatened folks live long 



153 

6037 Three are too many to keep a secret, and too few to 
be merry 

5038 Three may keep counsel, if two be away 

5039 Three women and a goose make a market • 

5040 Thrift is the philosopher's stone 

5041 Throw not stones at thine own window ' 

5042 Throw the rope in after the bucket 

5043 Throwing your cap at a bird is not the way to 

catch it 

5044 Tie a dog to a crab-tree, and he'll never love ver- 

juice more 

5045 Till death all is life 

5048 Till vice gets an habit, there is a remedy for it 

5047 Time and straw ripen medlars 

5048 Time and thought tame the greatest grief 

5049 Time and tide tarry for no man 

5050 Time and words can't be recalled 
505 % Time devours all things 

5052 Time is the rider that breaks in youth 

5053 Time past may be repented, but can never be re- 

called 

5054 lime spent in vice or folly is doubly lost 

5055 Time wrongs antiquity 

5056 Timely and wise fear of danger prevents danger 

5057 Timely blossom, timely fruit 

5058 Tittle-tattle, give the goose more hay 

5059 Tis a good ill that conies alone 

5060 Tis a most sad sight to see an old man in misery 

5061 Tis a sign of an ill cause to rail at your adver- 

sary 

5062 Tis a sweet sorrow to bury an outrageous wife 

5063 Tis a wicked world, and we make part of it 

5064 Tis almost as easy to find a true diamond as a true 

friend 

5065 Tis altogether vain to learn wisdom, and jet live 

foolishly 

5066 Tis an unhappy w it that stirs up enemies against 

itself 

5067 Tis as natural for women to pride themselves in 

fine clothes, as 'tis for a peacock to spread his 
tail 

5068 Tis better to suffer wrong than do it 

5069 Tis brave scrambling at the rich man's dole 

5070 Tis clemency that makes the absolute conquest 

H 5 



154 

5071 'Tis comparison that makes men happy or misera- 

ble 

5072 'Tis easy to fall into a trap, but hard to get out 

again 

5073 'Tis easier to avoid a fault than acquire perfection 

5074 'Tis easier to bear unkindnesses than affronts 

5075 "lis easier to know how to speak, than how to be 

silen f 

5076 'Tis easier to miss than to hit a needle's eye 

5077 'Tis easier to preserve a friend, than to recover him 

when lost 

5078 Tis easier io ridicule than commend 

5079 'Tis fortune chiefly that makes heroes 

5080 'Tis generous to bear an injury, but dangerous to 

requite it 

5081 'Tis God'e blessing that makes the pot boil 

5082 'Tis good grafting on a good stock 

5083 'Tis good riding in a sale harbour 

5084 'Tis good to go a-foot with a horse in hand 

5085 'Tis harder to unlearn than learn 

5086 'Tis height makes Grantham-Steele stand awry 

5087 'Tis in vain to kick after you have once put on fet- 

ters 

5088 'Tisin vain to speak reason where 'twill not be heard 

5089 'Tis late e'er an old man comes to know he is old 

5090 'Tis liberty that every one loves 

5091 'Tis money that begets money 

5092 'Tis more your goodness than my desert 
6093 'Tis not clean linen only that makes the feast 

5094 'Tis not every question that deserves an answer 

5095 'Tis not for every one to catch a salmon 

5096 'Tis not good to be happy too young 

5097 'Tis not knowing much, but what is useful, that 

makes a wise man 

5098 'lis not liberty to live licentiously 

5099 'Tis not other's apprehensions, but your own liking 

that should please you 

5100 'Tis not prating, but working, that brings in the 

harvest 

5101 'Tis not the action, but the intention, that is good 

or bad 

5102 'Tis not the beard that makes the philosopher 

5103 'Tis not the armour, but the right placing of it 
6104 'Tis not the habit that makes the monk 



155 

5105 Tis not the matter, but the mind 

5106 Tis not the husbandman, but the good weather 

that makes the corn grow 

5107 'Tis not the suffering, but the cause and the pati- 

ence, that makes a martyr 

5108 'Tis not your posterity, but your actions, that will 

perpetuate your memory 

5109 Tis novelty that sets the people a-gaping 

5110 Tis perseverance that prevails 

5111 Tis pity thou art not a little more tongue-tied 

51 12 Tis pride, and not nature, that craves much 

5113 'Tis pride in fashion, that puts humility out of coun- 

tenance 

5114 Tis rare to find a fish, that will not sometime or 

other bite 

5115 'Tis self conceit, that makes opinion obstinate 

5116 Tis skill, not strength, that governs a ship 

5117 Tis the abilities of a horse that occasions his sla- 

very 

5118 Tis the early bird that catcheth the worm 

5119 Tis the horse that stumbles, and not the saddle 

5120 Tis the last feather that breaks the horse's back 

5121 Tis the men, not the houses, that make the city 

5122 Tis the place, that shews the man 

5123 Tis the riches of the mind only, that make a man 

rich and happy 

5124 Tis lime, conversation, and business, that discovers 

what a man is 

5125 Tis wisdom sometimes to seem a fool 

5126 To a crazy ship all winds are contrary 

5127 To a good spender, God is a treasurer 

5128 To a mortal man no evil is immortal 

5129 To a wise man living is thinking 

5130 To be a fool or knave in print, doth but bring the 

truth to light 

5131 To be conquer'd by an hero is an honour 

5132 To be daily dying is a blessed life 

5133 To be deceiv'd by a promise, is worse than to be put 

by one's hopes 

5134 To be einploy'd in useless things, is half to be 

idle 

5135 To be virtuous, is to do good, and to do it well 

5136 To be proud of an hereditary title, is to rant it in 

a dead man's clothes 



156 

5137 To beg a courtesy is to sells one's liberty 

5138 To believe a business impossible, is the way to 

make it so 

5139 To beg teeth of a roost-cock 

5140 To blush at vice shews the world you are asham'd 

of it 

5141 To bring an old house over one's head 

5142 To cast oil into the fire is not the way to quench it 

5143 To catch a Tartar 

5144 To catch two pigeons with one pea 

5145 To come in pudding time 

5146 To come sailing in a sow's ear 

5147 To command many will cost much 

5148 To contemn a just commendation, is to kick at a 

kindness 

5149 To contemn the poor because of his poverty is to 

affront God's providence 

5150 To continue good amongst ill men, that's the point 

5151 To cut down an oak, and plant a thistle 

5152 To-day a man, to-morrow a mouse 

5153 To-day is yesterday's pupil 

5154 To-day me, to-morrow thee 

5155 To dive deep, and bring up a potsherd 

5156 To do good to the ungrateful is to throw rose-wa- 

ter into the sea 

5157 To draw the worm out of the root 

5158 To eat, and to scratch, a man need but begin 

5159 To cat well is no whoredom ; and to starve is no 

gentility 

5160 To escape the rocks, and perish in the sands 

5161 To fall away from a horse-load to a cart-load 

5162 To favour the ill is to injure the good 

5163 To fawn with the tail, and bite with the mouth 

5164 To feather one's own nest 

5165 To fish with a herring, and catch a sprat 

5166 To fly on upon plunder, and lose the battle 

5167 To fly with waxed wings 

5168 To get out of one mire to run into another 

5169 To give a reason for fancy were to weigh the fire. 

and measure the wind 

5170 To go a coney-catching with a dead ferrit 

5171 To go a cricket-hunting 

5172 To go against reason and conscience, is to rebel 

against God himself 



157 

5173 To go as fast as a friar, that is invited to dinner 

5174 To go like a bear to a stake 

5175 To go out a pilgrim, and come home a courtezan 

5176 To go thorough-stitch with a business 

5177 To go through fire and water, to serve a friend 

5178 To grease a fat sow 

5179 To grow old at court, and die in the hospital 

5180 To have an oar in every man's boat 

5181 To have the world in a string 

5182 To him, that has a bad taste, sweet is bitter 

5183 To him, that wills, ways are seldom wanting 

5184 To him, that you tell your secret, you resign your 

liberty 

5185 To hit the nail on the head 

5186 To hold the wolf by the ears 

5187 To hold one's nose to the grind-stone 

5188 To hold with the hare, and run with the hounds 

5189 To hug one, as the devil hugs a witch 

5190 To jest is tolerable, but to do harm by jest is insuf- 

ferable 

5191 To keep a custom, you hammer the anvil still, 

though you have no iron 

5192 To kill two birds with one stone 

5193 To lather an ass's head is but spoiling of soap 

5194 To laugh in one's face, and cut one's throat 

5195 To leave all at sixes and sevens 

5196 To leave no stone unturned 

5197 To lick honey through a cleft stick 

5198 To lie at rack and manger" 

5199 To live is not to spend or waste time, but to em- 

. pi°y »* 

5200 To love the door, and leave the hatch 

5201 To make a bolt or a shaft of it 

5202 To make abridge of one's nose 

5203 To make a man valiant, abuse him lustily 

5204 To make a mountain of a mole-hill 

5205 To make two friends with one gift 

5206 To make white black, and black white 

5207 To-morrow a new scene of things may open 

5208 To-morrow morning I found a horse-shoe 

5209 To no more purpose than 'twould be to knock one's 

heels against the ground 

5210 To nourish a viper in one's bosom 

5211 To nurse up and keep a vice is a vast charge 



158 

5212 To outshoot a man in his own bow 

5213 To overcome pleasure is the greatest pleasure 

5214 To pay one in one's own coin 

5215 To promise, and give nothing, is a comfort for a fool 

5216 To punish and not prevent, is to labour at the 

pump, and leave open the leak 

5217 To put new handles to an old pot 

5218 To put our sickle into another man's corn 

5219 To ride post for a pudding 

5220 To rock the cradle in spectacles 

5221 To row one way, and look another 

5222 To run the wild-goose chace 

5223 To see a storm is better than to feel it 

5224 To see may be easy ; but to foresee, that is the fine 

thing 

5225 To seek a needle in a bottle of hay 

5226 To seem, and not to be, is throwing the shuttle 

without weaving 
6227 To serve the people is worse than to serve two 
masters 

5228 To set up a sail to every wind 

5229 To shoot at a pigeon, and kill a crow 

5230 To sing like a bird called a swine 

5231 To slit one's nose 

5232 To spare at the spiggot, and let run out at the 

bung-hole 

5233 To speak like a mouse in a cheese 

5234 To stop two gaps with one bush 

5235 To strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel 

5236 To stroke with one hand, and stab with the other 

5237 To succeed well one must have his lucky day 

5238 To swallow an ox, and be choaked with the tail 

5239 To swill and drink, is to turn tripe-wife and wash- 

guts 

5240 To take from a soldier ambition is to take off his 

spurs 

5241 To take from the right hand, and give to the left 

5242 To take the wrong sow by the ear 

5243 To talk without thinking is to shoot without aim- 

ing 

5244 To throw the helve after the hatchet 

5245 To throw the house out of the window 

5246 To throw the stone, and hide the hand 

5247 To thrust one's foot under another man's table 



159 

5248 To turn cat in pan 

5249 To twist a rope of sand 

525^ To wear a horn, and not know it, will do one no 
more harm, than to eat a fly and not see it 

5251 To weep excessively for the dead, is to affront the 

living; 

5252 To whisper proclamations is ridiculous 

5253 To win the horse, or lose the saddle 

5254 To woo is a pleasure in a young man, but a phrenzy 

in an old 

5255 Too great and sudden changes, though for the bet- 

ter, are not easily born 

5256 Too late to grieve, when the chance is past 

5257 Too much and too little occasions the troubles of 

mankind 

5258 Too much asseveration is a good ground of sus- 

picion 

5259 Too much breaks the bag 

5260 Too much care may be as bad as downright negli- 

gence 

5261 Too much consulting confounds 

5262 Too much cordial will destroy 

5263 Too much familiarity breeds contempt 

5264 Too much fear cuts all the nerves asunder 

5265 Too much of one thing is good for nothing 

5266 Too much praise is a burthen 

5267 Too much scratching, pains; too much talking, 

plagues 

5268 Too much spoileth, too little is nothing 

5269 Touch a gall'd horse on the back, and he'll kick 

5270 Touch pot, touch penny 

5271 Trade is the mother of money 

. 5272 Travel makes a wise man better, but a fool worse 

5273 Travellers should correct the vice of one country, 

by the virtue of another 

5274 Tripe-broth is better than no porridge 

5275 Trouble makes every sad accident a double evil, 

and contentedness makes it none at all 

5276 Troubles are the only trials 

5277 Troy was 

5278 Troy was not taken in a day 

5279 True blue will never stain 

5280 True jests breed bad blood 

5281 True jests do the greatest execution 



160 

5282 True magnanimity does not consist so much in 

undertaking difficult things, as enduring evils 

5283 True sincerity sends for no witness 

5284 True valour, is fire ; bullying, is smoke 

5285 True valour knows as well how to suffer as to act 

5286 Trust him no further than you can throw him 

5287 Trust makes way for treachery 

5288 Trust me, but look to thyself 

5289 Trust not a great weight to a slender thread 

5290 'Trust not to a broken staff 

5291 Trust thyself only, and another shall not betray 

thee 

5292 Trusting often makes fidelity 

5293 Truth and honesty have no need of loud protesta- 

tions ■ 

5294 Truth and matter of fact have no answers 

5295 Truth and oil are ever above 

5296 Truth fcars.no colours 

5297 Truth fears no trial 

5298 Truth finds foes, where it should find none 

5299 Truth hath a good face, but ill clothes 

5300 Tiuth hath always a sure bottom 

5301 Truth is God's daughter 

5302 Truth is the child of Time 

5303 Truth is truth, in spite of custom's heart 

5304 Truth lieth deep, and must be fetched up at leisure 

5305 Truth loves to go naked 

5306 Truth makes the devil blush 

5307 Truth may be blamed, but cannot be shamed 

5308 Truth may sometimes come out of the devil's 

mouth 

5309 Truth needs not many words ; but a false tale, a 

large preamble 

5310 Truth never grows old 

5311 Truth seeks no corners 

5312 Truth will be uppermost, one time or other 

5313 Truth will sometimes break out unlooked for 

5314 Truth's best ornament is nakedness 

5315 Try whether the ice will bear, before thou venturest 

upon it 

5316 Try to tame a mad horse, but knock him not at 

head 

5317 'Twas fear that first put on arms 

5318 'Twas got out of the fire 



161 

>8i9 Twas surely the devil, that taught women to 
dance, and asses to bray 

5320 Twere better my enemy envy me, than I him 

5321 Two anons, and a by and by, are an hour and a 

half 

5322 Two cunning knaves need no broker 

5323 Two daughters and a back door, are three arrant 

thieves 

5324 Two dogs fight for a bone, and a third runs away 

with it 

5325 Two dry sticks will kindle a green one 

5326 Two eyes may see more than one 

5327 Two faces under one hood 

5328 Two fools in a house are too man} by a couple 

5329 Two good meals make the third a glutton 

5330 Two hands in a dish, and one in a purse 

5331 Two heads are better than one, quoth the woman, 

when she had her dog with her to the market 

5332 Two of a trade seldom agree 

5333 Two sir positives can scarce meet without a skir- 

mish 

5334 Two sparrows upon one car of wheat cannot agree 

5335 Two things a man should never be angry at, what 

he can help, and what he cannot help 

5336 Two to one in all things against the angry man 

5337 Two to one is olds at foot-ball 

5338 Two whores in a house will never agree 
5o'3i) Twonld make a dog break his halter 
6340 Twonld make even a fly laugh 

5341 Twonld make one scratch, where it doth not itch 

5342 Vain glory blossoms, but never bears 

5343 Valour is brutish without discretion 

5344 Valour would tight, but discretion would run away 

5345 Vanity will prove vexation 

5346 Varnishing hides a crack 

5347 Venture a small fish to catch a great one 

5348 Venture a small fish to catch a gudgeon 

5349 Venture not all in one bottom 

5350 Venture thy opinion, but not thyself for thy opi- 

nion 

5351 Vexation is rather taken than given 

5352 Ugly women, finely drcss'd, are the uglier for it 

5353 Vice is abominable, when it preaches up virtue 



162 

5354 Vice is its own punishment, and sometimes its own 

cure 

5355 Yice lives alwa} r s displeased 

5356 Vice makes virtue shine 

5357 Yice must never plead prescription 

5358 Yice often lides triumphant in virtue's chariot 

5359 Yice ruleth, where God reigneth 

5360 Yice would be frightful, if it did not wear a mask 

5361 Vices are learned without a master 

5362 Vicious men overvalue vanity, and undervalue vex- 

ation 

5363 Virtue and happiness are but two names for the 

same tiling 

5364 Virtue and happiness are mother and daughter 

5365 Virtue and vice divide the world, but vice has got 

the greater share 

5366 Virtue has never been the prevailing fashion 

5367 Virtue brings honour, and honour vanity 

5368 Virtue carricth a reward with it, and so doth vice, 

with a vengeance 

5369 Virtue dwells not in the tongue, but in the heart 

5370 Virtue hath few Platontck lovers 

5371 Virtue hath such charms, that even the vicious in- 

wardly reverence it 

5372 Virtue is a man's both guard and glory 

5373 Virtue is built upon itself 

5374 Virtue is despised, if it be seen in a threadbare 

cloak 

5375 Virtue is more persecuted by the wicked, than en- 

couraged by the good 

5376 Virtue is not secure against envy 

5377 Virtue is of noble birth, but riches take the wall of 

her 

5378 Virtue is of worth by itself alone, and so is not birth 

5379 Virtue is prais'd by all, but practised by few 

5380 Virtue is seldom followed gratis 

5381 Virtue is the beauty of the soul 

5382 Virtue is the only ground for friendship to be built 

upon 

5383 Virtue is the only true nobility 

5384 Virtue is tied to no degrees of men 

5385 Virtue itself, without good manners, is laughed at 

5386 Virtue may be overclouded a while, but ' twill shine 

at the last 



163 

5387 Virtue merits veneration, wherever she appears 
6388 Virtue respects not blood and alliance 

5389 Virtue scorns a lie for its defence 

5390 Virtue would not go far, if a little vanity walked 

not with it 

5391 Virtue's paths are first rugged, then pleasant 

5392 Virtues all agree, but vices fight one another 

5393 Ulcers cannot be cured, that are concealed 

5394 Unadvised vows are an offence to God 

5395 Unbidden guests know not where to sit down 

5396 Under the blanket, the black one is as good as the 

white 

5397 Under the flowers are thorns 

5398 Under the hands of unlucky persons, opportunities 

wax old 

5399 Unexpected kindnesses, or injuries, make great im- 

pression 

5400 Unexperienced men think all things easy 

5401 Unjust gains may be sweet in the mouth, but will 

be bitter in the belly 
a^ins uuKiimiicss lias no remedy at raw 

5403 Unknown, unkiss'd 

5404 Unmannerly a little, is better than troublesome a 

great deal 

5405 Unpleasing errors are never so welcome as pleasing 

falsehoods 

5406 Unreasonable silence is folly 

5407 Unseasonable kindness gets no thanks 

5408 Vows made in storms are forgot in calins 

5409 Upbraiding turns a benefit into an injury 

5410 Use legs, and have legs 

5411 Use makes perfectness 

5412 Use pastime, so as not to lose time 

5413 Use the means, and trust to God for the bless- 

ing 

5414 Want of care does us no more damage than want 

of knowledge 

5415 Wanton kitlins may make sober old cats 

5416 War, hunting, and love, have a thousand troubles 

for their pleasure 

5417 War is death's feast 

5418 War makes thieves, and peace hangs them 

5419 War must not be waged by men asleep 



16± 

5420 Ware shins, quoth Grub, when he flung a louse in 

the fire 

5421 Wary is the word 

5422 Wasps haunt the honey-pot 

5423 Waste makes want 

5424 Water breeds frogs in the belly, but wine kills 

worms 

5425 We are all Adam's children, but silk makes the dif- 

ference 

5426 We are apt to believe what we wish for 

5427 We are born crying, live complaining, and die dis- 

appointed 

5428 We are bound to be honest, but not to be rich 

5429 We are ever young enough to sin; never old 

enough to repent 

5430 We are more mindful of injuries than benefits 

5431 We are never so happy, or unfortunate, as we 

think ourselves 

5432 We are not so sensible of the greatest health, as 

of the least sickness 

5433 We bachelors grin, but you married men laugh 

till your hearts ache 

5434 We begin not to live till we are fit to die 

5435 We can live without our friends, but not without 

our neighbours 

5436 We carry our greatest enemies within us 

5437 We carry our neighbour's failings in sight; we 

throw our own crimes over our. own shoulders 

5438 We do nothing but in the presence of two great 

witnesses — God and our own conscience 

5439 We desire but one feather out of your goose 

5440 We easily forget our faults when nobody knows 

them 

5441 We hate delay ; yet it makes us wise. 

5442 We have all forgot more than we remember 

5443 We hounds kill'd the hare, quoth the lap-dog 

5444 We know not which stone the scorpion lurks 

under 

5445 We'll bark ourselves, ere we'll buy dogs so dear 

5446 We may be good in every condition 

5447 Wc may see a prince, but not search him 
.5448 We must live by the quick, and not by the dead 

5449 We must not lie down, and cry, God help us 

5450 We must not look for a golden life in an iron age 



165 

5451 We never know the worth of water till the well 'm 

dry 

5452 We perfectly know what is good, and what is evil ; 

and may be as certain in morals as in mathematics 

5453 We see not what is in the wallet behind 

5454 We seldom find out that we are flattered 

5455 We shall lie all alike in our graves 

5456 We shall never have friends if we expect to find 

them without fault 

5457 We should play to live, not live to play 

5458 We should publish our joys, and conceal our griefs 

5459 Weak men and cowards are generally wilely 

5460 Weak things united become strong 

5461 Wealth and content do not always live together 

5462 Wealth and honours can never cure a wounded 

conscience 

5463 Wealth is best known by want 

5464 Weeds are hard to eradicate 

5465 Weeds are apt to grow faster than good herbs 

5466 Weeds want no sowing 

5467 Weigh right, and sell dear 

5468 Weight, measure, and tale, take away strife 

5469 Welcome death, quoth the rat, when the trap fell 

5470 Welcome is the best cheer 

5471 Welcome, mischief, if thou comest alone 

5472 Well lathered is half shaven 

5473 Well may he stumble that chooses a stony way 

5474 Well might the cat wink when both her eyes were 

out 

5475 What a day may bring a day may take away 

5476 What a dust have I raised ! quoth the fly upon the 

coach 

5477 What a great deal of good great men might do! 

5478 What! are you afraid of him that died last year? 

5479 What avails it me to draw one foot out of the mire, 

and stir k the other in ? 

5480 What belongs to the public is nobody's property 

5481 What cannot be altered must be borne, not blamed 

5482 What children hear at home soon flies abroad 

5483 What comes too late is as nothing 

5484 What cometh by kind costeth nothing 

5485 What costs little is less esteemed 

5486 What does a man think of when he thinks of no- 

thing 1 — Answ. A great man's promise 



166 

5487 Whatever is given to the poor is laid out of the 

reach of fortune 
6488 Whatever wants, pleasure and vanity must be had 

5489 Whatever we cannot help is our misfortune, not 

our fault 

5490 What good can it do an ass to he called a lion ? 

5491 What has been, may be 

5492 What have I to do with Bradshaw's windmill ? 

5493 What is a great estate good for, if it brings melan- 

choly ? 

5494 What is a workman without tools ? 

5495 What is done by night appears by day 

5496 What is gotten over the devil's back is spent under 

his belly 

5497 What ! is it nothing but up and ride ? 

5498 What is one pound of butter among a kennel of 

hounds ? 

5499 What is the use of patience, if we cannot find it 

when we want it 

5500 What may be done at any time will be done at no 

time 

5501 What serves dirt for, if it do not stink ? 

5502 What should a cow do with a nutmeg ? 

5503 What pretty things men will make for money, 

quoth the old woman, when she saw a monkey ? 

5504 What reason and endeavour cannot bring about, 

often time will 

5505 What's a crab in a cow's mouth 1 

5506 What's a gentleman but his pleasure ? 

5507 What's a sun-dial in the shade good for ? 

5508 What's an army without a general ? 

5509 What's an estate good for, if it cannot buy con- 

tent? 

5510 What's freer than a gift? 

5511 What's good in the mouth may be bad in the maw 

5512 What's mine, is my own ; what's my brother's, is 

his and mine 

5513 What's my turn to-day may be thine to-morrow 

5514 What's none of your profit need be none of your 

peril 

5515 What's sowed in youth, will be reaped in age 

5516 Whatsoever time does, it undoes 

5517 What the better is the house for a sluggard's rising 

early 



167 

5518 What the eye sees need not to be guessed at 

5519 What the eye sees not, the heart rues not 

5520 What the good wife spares, the cat eats 

5521 What the heart thinketh, the tongue speaketh 

5522 What they lose in the hundred, they gain in the 

county 

5523 What tutor shall we find for a child of sixty years 

old 

5524 What ! would he be greater than Sir John ? 

5525 What would you have ? a butter'd faggot ? 

5526 What would you have ? a calf with a white face? 

5527 What would you have an ass chop logic ? 

5528 Wheat is not to be gather'd in the blade, but in the 

ear 

5529 When a blind man flourisheth the antient, woe be 

unto those that follow him 

5530 When a fool hath bethought himself, the market's 

over 

5531 When a fox preaches, beware the geese 

5532 When a goose dances, and a fool versifies, there is 

sport 

5533 When a man grows angry his reason rides out 

5534 When a man hath once done blushing, he com- 

menceth a hardened sinner 

5535 When a man is not liked whatever he doth is amiss 

5536 When a man is set upon his own ruin, 'tis in vain 

to reason with him 

5537 When a man repeats a promise again and again, 

he means to fail you 

5538 When a man's coat is thread-bare, it is an easy 

thing to pick a hole in it 

5539 When a man's house is on fire, it's time to break off 

chess 

5540 When a pig is given you, run presently for a string 

to lead it home 

5541 When a proud man hears another praised, he 

thinks himself injured 

5542 When a thing is done advice comes too late 

5543 When a tree is once falling, every one cries down 

with it 

5544 When all fruit fails, welcome haws 

5545 When all is gone, repentance comes too late 

5546 When an ass climbeth a ladder, you may find wis- 

dom in women 



168 

5547 When an ass is among a parcel of monkeys they all 

make faces at him 

5548 When an old man will not drink, you may safely 

promise him a visit in the next world 

5549 When Dover and Calais meet 

5550 When every one gets his own, you'll get the gallows 

5551 When flatterers meet, the devil goes to dinner 

5552 When fortune fawneth, she biteth; when she is 

angry, she woundeth 

5553 When fortune smiles, embrace her 

5554 When God wills, all winds bring rain 

5555 When gold speaks, you may even hold your tongue 

5556 When he should work, every finger is a thumb 

5557 When honour grew mercenary, money grew ho- 

nourable 

5558 When I am dead make me a caudle 

5559 When I had thatched his house, he would have 

hurled me from the roof 

5560 When I wanted an honest man, I never thought to 

go to court for him 

5561 When many strike on an anvil they must observe 

order 

5562 When mastiffs fight, little curs will bark 

5563 When necessity comes in, turn modesty out 

5564 When passion entereth at the foregate, wisdom 

goeth out of the postern 

5565 When poverty comes in at the door, love creeps 

out at the window 

5566 When pride is on the saddle, shame is on the 

crupper 

5567 When pride rides, shame lacqueys 

5568 When sharpers prey upon one another, there's no 

game abroad 

5569 When sorrow is asleep, wake it not 

5570 When the barn's full, you may thresh before the 

door 

5571 When the belly is full, the bones are at rest 

5572 When the cat's gone the mice grow saucy 

5573 When the christening is over, you may have god- 

fathers enough 

5574 When the daughter is stolen, shut Pepper gate 

5575 When the demand is a jest, the answer is a scoff 

5576 When the devil prays, he has a booty in his eye 



169 

5577 When the devil of contradiction once possesses 

a man, he is hard to be cast out 

5578 When the devil's a hog, you shall eat bacon 

5579 When the devil's a vicar, then thou shalt be his 

clerk 

5580 When the devil's dead, there's a widow for Hum- 

phrey 

5581 When the dog is beaten out of the room, where 

will they lay their stink 

5582 When the dog's dead, all his malice dies with 

him 

5583 When the eye sees what it never saw, the heart 

will think what it never thought 

5584 When the flatterer pipes, then the devil dances 

5585 When the fox could not reach the grapes, he cried, 

they are sour 

5586 When the frog and mouse would take up the quar- 

rel, the kite decided it 

5587 When the good man is abroad, the good woman's 

table is soon spread 

5588 When the head aketh, all the body feels it 

5589 When the heart is a-fire, some sparks will fly out 

of the mouth 

5590 When the hop grows high, it must have a j o^e 

5591 When the horse is starved you bring him cats 

5592 When the house is burnt down, you bring water 

5593 When the husband drinks to the wife, all would be 

well ; when the wife drinks to the husband, all is 
well 

5594 When the husband is fire,' and the wife tow, the 

devil easily sets all in a flame 

5595 When the maid leaves open the door, blame not the 

cat 

5596 When the mare hath a bald face, the filley hath a 

blaze 

5597 When the master licks the knife, its bad for the 

man 

5598 When the mutton's going, it is good to take a slice 

5599 When the next house is a-fire, it is high time to 

look to thy own 

5600 When the old dog barks, he giveth counsel 

5601 When the pig is proffered, hold up the poke 

5602 When the pot boils over, it cooleth itself 

5603 When the pirate preys, there is great danger 

I 



170 

5804 When the rights of hospitality are invaded, revenge 
is almost allowable 

5605 When the soul is embittered, nothing is sweet 

5606 When the steed is stole, yon shut the stable-door 

5607 When the sun is highest, he casts the least shadow 

5608 When the sun shines nobody minds it, but when it 

is eclipsed all consider him 

5609 When the wares are gone, shut up the shop-win- 

dows 

5610 When the wine is in, the wit is out 

5611 W 7 hen the wine is run out, you'd stop the leak 

5612 When there is but little bread, cut first, if you can 

5613 When thou art at sea, sail ; when at laud, settle 

5614 When thou dancest, take heed whom thou takest 

by the hand 

5615 When two knaves deal, the devil drives the bar- 

gain 

5616 When war beginneth, hell openeth 

5617 When ware is liked it is half sold 

5618 When we are pleased ourselves we begin to please 

others 

5619 When we commend good actions, we make them 

in some measure our own 

5620 When we do ill, the devil tempteth us ; when we 

do nothing, we tempt him 
5021 When we first see the light we weep, and when 
we leave it we groan 

5622 When wine sinks, words swim 

5623 When you are good to others you are best to 

yourself 

5624 When you are in the way you ask for the path 

5625 When you are in vicious company you are among 

your enemies 

5626 When you die your trumpeter will be buried 

5627 When you give others ill words you rail at yourself 

5628 When you have counted your cards, you'll find you 

have little left 

5629 When you have given me roast meat you beat me 

with the spit 

5630 When you have no observers, be afraid of yourself 

5631 When you have made me shuffle the cards, then 

truly you'll not play 

5632 When you obey your superior, you instruct your 

inferior 



171 

5633 When your name is up, you may lie a-bed till 

noon 

5634 Where a chest lies open, a reputed honest man may 

sin 

5635 Wlrere bad's the best, bad must be the choice 

5636 Where bees are, there is honey 

5637 Where content is, there is a feast 

5638 Where curiosity is not the purveyor, detraction 

will soon be starved 

5639 Where dainties are not to be had, be content with 

common fare 

5640 Where drams speak out, laws hold their tongues 

5641 Where embroidery is wanting, perhaps a patched 

coat may serve 

5642 Wherever we meet misery, we owe pity 

5643 Wherever an ass falleth, there will he never fall 

again 

5644 Where ver you go, and business be cross, you have 

a league of bad way 

5645 Where every one fleeceth the sheep go naked 

5646 Where God hath his church, the devil hath his 

chapel 

5647 Where its weakest, there the thread breaketh 

5648 Where knaves fall out, honest men come by their 

own 

5649 Where men are kindly used, they w ill resort 

5650 Where necessity pinches, boldness is prudence 

5651 Where no fault is, there needs no punishment 

5652 Where none else will, the devil himself must bear 

the cross 

5653 Where nothing is, nothing can be had 

5654 Where one door is that, another is open 

5655 Where passion is high, there reason is low 

5656 Where shall a man have a worse friend than he 

brings from home ? 

5657 Where shall the ox go but he must labour ? 

5658 Where something is found, there look again 

5659 Wheresoever we live well, that is our country 

5660 Wheresoever you see your kindred, make much of 

your friends 

5661 Where the bee sucks honey, the spider sucks poison 

5662 Where the dam leaps over, the kid follows 

5663 Were the deer is slain, there will some of his blood 

lie 

I 2 



172 

5664 Where the great Turk's horse treads, grass never 

grows 

5665 Where the heart is past hope, the face is past 

shame 

5666 Where the hedge is lowest, men leap over 

5667 Where the knot is loose, the string slippeth 

5668 Where the river is deepest it runneth quietest 

5669 Where the sea goes, there let the sands go 

5670 Where the will is ready the feet are light 

5671 Where there are boots ready, spurs maybe wanting 

5672 Where there are many laws, there are many enor- 

mities 

5673 Where there are pride and covetousness in a man, 

two devils fight 

5674 Where there are reeds, there is water 

5675 Where there is much love, there is much mistake 

5676 Where there is no love, all are faults 

5677 Where there is nothing to be had, even the king of 

France must lose his right 

5678 Where two faithful friends meet, God makes up 

the third 

5679 Where two fools meet, the bargain goes off 

5680 Where vain-glory reigns, folly is prime counsellor 

5681 Where villainy goes before, vengeance follows 

after 

5682 Where water is shallow, no boat will ride 

5683 Where we least think, there goes the hare away 

5684 Where women are and geese, there wants no gag- 

gling 

5685 Where you see a jester, a fool is not far off 

5686 Wherries must not put out to sea 

5687 Whether you boil or bake snow, you can have but 

water of it 

5688 While the grass grows the steed starves 

5689 While there is life there is hope 

5690 While you trust to the dog, the wolf slips into the 

sheep-fold 

5691 Whilst it thunders, the thief turns honest 

5692 White walls are fool's writing-paper 

5693 Who always buys and sells, feels not what he 

spends » 

5694 Who asks after the pedigree of a swine he is to 

kill? 

5695 Who bulls the cow must keep the calf 



173 

5696 Who can help sickness, quoth the drunken wife, 

when she fell into the gutter ? 

5697 Who'd keep a cow, when he may have a quart of 

milk for a penny? 

5698 Who draws his sword against his prince, must 

throw away the scabbard 

5699 Who draws others into ill courses, is the devil's 

factor 

5700 Who eats, and leaves, has another meal good 

5701 Who eats his dinner alone must saddle his horse 

5702 Who ever repented of a good action ? 

5703 Who ever suffered for not speaking ill of others ? 

5704 Who hath horns in his bosom, let him not put 

them on his forehead 

5705 Who hath a scold, hath sorrow to his sops 

5706 Who keep company with the wolf, will learn to 

howl 

5707 W 7 ho knows but that my private watch may go 

truer than the town-clock? 

5708 Who knows who may keep sheep another day ! 

5709 Who loseth his due, getteth no thanks 

5710 Who marrieth for love without money, hath merry 

nights and sorry days 

5711 Who more busy than they that have least to do ! 

5712 Who more ready to call her neighbour scold, than 

the arrantest scold in all the street ? 

5713 Who never climbed high, never fell low 

5714 Who perisheth in needless dangers, is the devil's 

martyr 

5715 Who removeth land-mark stones, bruiseth his fin- 

gers 

5716 Who robs a Cambridge-scholar, robs twenty 

5717 Who shall bell the cat ? 

5718 Who shall keep the keepers? 

5719 Who so bold as blind Bctynard? 

5720 Who spends before he thrives, will beg before he 

thinks 

5721 Who thinks a woman hath no merit but her 

money, deserves to be made a cuckold 

5722 Who would desire to spit blood, though into a 

golden bason ? 

5723 Wholesome and poisonous herbs grow in the same 

garden 

5724 Whom God loves, his house is savoury to him 

I 3 



174 

5725 Whom great men wrong, they hate 

5726 Whores affect not you, but your money 

5727 Whoso doth no evil, is apt to suspect none 

5728 Whoso is apt to believe, shall frequently repent it 

5729 Whoso is not dutiful to a good mother, shall be 

punished by an ill step-mother 

5730 Whoso is wicked in the country, will be so also in 

town 

5731 Whoso lacketh a stock, his gain is not worth a chip 

5732 W hoso entertains you with the faults of others, de- 

serves to serve you in the same kind 

5733 Whosoever engages in many pursuits, rarely suc- 

ceeds in one 

5734 Whosoever is king, thou shalt be his man 

5735 Whosoever values not his own life, may be master 

of another's 

5736 Why should a rich man steal? 

5737 Wicked men, like mad-men, have sometimes their 

lucid intervals 

5738 Wickedness is its own punishment, and many times 

its own cure 

5739 Wickedness with beauty is the devil's hook baited 

5740 Widows are always rich 

5741 Wife and children are bills of charges 

5742 Wife and children are hostages given to fortune 

5743 Wind and weather, do your utmost 

5744 Wine hath drowned more men than the sea 

5745 Wine in the hogshead quencheth no thirst 

5746 Wine is a turn-coat; first a friend, and then an 

enemy 

5747 Wine is the vintner's, but the goodness of it the 

drawer's 

5748 Wine neither keeps secrets, nor fulfils promises 

5749 Wine shews what a man is 

5750 Wine that costeth nothing, is digested before it be 

drank 

5751 Wine turns a man inside outwards 

5752 Wine washeth off the daub 

5753 Winter draws out what summer laid in 

5754 Wilful faults have no excuse, and deserve no pardon 

5755 Wilful waste brings woeful want 

5756 Will any, but an Irishman, hang a wooden kettle 

over the fire ? 

5757 Will is the cause of woe 



175 

5758 Will will have its will, though will woe win 

5759 Will, without reason, is blind ; and against reason, 

is mad 

5760 Willing minds take op with poor exercises 

5761 Willows are weak, yet they bind other wood 

5762 Wisdom don't always speak in Greek and Latin 

5763 Wisdom goes not always by years 

5764 Wisdom in a poor man is a diamond set in lead 

5765 Wisdom in perfection is not for mortals 

5766 Wisdom is a good purchase, though we pay dear 

for it 

5767 Wisdom is more to be envied than riches 

5768 Wisdom is neither inheritance nor legacy 

5769 Wisdom itself is not ashamed to be sprightly and 

gay upon occasion 

5770 Wisdom rises upon the ruins of folly 

5771 Wisdom sometimes walks in clouted shoes 

5772 Wisdom, without innocence, is knavery ; innocence 

without wisdom, is folly 

5773 Wise and good is better than rich and g! 

5774 Wise and good men invented the laws, but fools and 

the wicked put them upon it 

5775 Wise men care not for what they cannot hav e 

5776 Wise men have but few of their society 

5777 Wise men have reason ; other men, wit 

5778 Wise men in the world are like timber-trees in a 

hedge, here and there oue 

5779 Wise men learn by other men's harms ; fools by 

their own 

5780 Wise men learn something of fools, but fools no- 

thing of wise men 

5781 Wise men make proverbs, and fools repeat them 

5782 Wise men may chance to be caught 

5783 Wise men may look ridiculous in the company of 

fools 

5784 Wise men may well be mistaken in futures 

5785 Wit and wisdom are like the seven stars, seldom 

seen together 

5786 Wit ill applied is a dangerous weapon 

5787 Wit is to be met with every where, but wisdom is 

a rarity 

5788 Wit may be bought too dear 

5789 Wit sometimes -helps us to play the fool with more 

confidence 

I 4 



176 

5790 Wit without judgment is a weary thing to the com- 

pany 

5791 Wit without wisdom cuts other men's meat, and 

its own fingers 

5792 With a fool and a knave there's no conclusion 

5793 With an honest and a good man, business is soon 

ended 

5794 With as good a will, as ever I came from school 

5795 With common friends, go with bridle in hand 

5796 With cost, good pottage may be made out of a leg 

of a joint stool 

5797 W r ith foxes we must play the fox 

5798 Withhold not thy money, where there is need ; and 

waste it not, where there is none 

5799 Witty coxcombs are the most troublesome of all 

coxcombs 

5800 Wives must have their wills while they live, be- 

cause they make none when they die 

5801 Woe to thai house where there is no chiding 

5802 Wolves may lose their teeth, but not their nature 

5803 Women and wine make men out of their wits 

5804 Women arc better sold for sorrow, than bought for 

repentance 

5805 Women commend a modest man, but like him not 

5806 Women conceal all that they know not 

5807 Women grown bad, are worse than men ; because 

the corruption of the best turns worst 

5808 Women have tears of dissimulation, as well as 

sorrow 

5809 Women, priests, and poultry, have never enough 

5810 Women's work is never done 

5811 Wonder is the daughter of ignorance 

5812 Wood half-coal is easily kindled 

5813 W 7 ords are but wind ; but seeing, is believing 

5814 AVords are for women ; actions, for men 

58 15 Words .shew the wit of a man, but action his mean- 

ing 

5816 Work breaks an idle fellow's legs, arms, and back 

5817 Worth begets in base minds, envy; but in brave 

souls, emulation 

5818 Worth hath been under-rated, ever since wealth 

hath been over-valued 

5819 Worth without wealth is a good servant out of 

place 



177 

5820 'Would I were in that country, where they break 

men's arms that talk of work 

5821 ' Would, No, I thank you, had never been made 

5822 Would you be thanked for feeding your own 

swine ? 

5823 Would you cut down Falkland-wood with a pen- 

knife ? 

5824 Would you die a raven black ? 

5825 Would you draw oil out of sand ? 

5826 Would you eat finer bread than is made of wheat, 

or wear finer cloth than is made of wool ? 

5827 Would you have potatoes grow by the pot-side ? 

5828 Would you know secrets? look for them in grief or 

pleasure 

5829 Would you thatch your house with pancakes? 

5830 Would you treat your horse with a peck of oysters 

5831 Would you wipe with the water, and wash with 

the towel ? 

5832 Wounds may heal, but not those that are made by 

ill words 

5833 Wranglers are never in the wrong 

5834 Wranglers never want words, though they may 

matter 

5835 Wren's battles are as eagerly fought as crane's are 

5836 Wrinkled purses make wrinkled faces 

5837 Write with the learned, but speak with the vulgar 

6838 Yelping curs may anger mastiffs at last 

5839 You and he piss both in a quill 

5840 You and I draw both in the same yoke 

5841 You are a fine fellow, to fetch the devil a priest 

5842 You are a man among the geese, when the gander 

is away 

5843 You are a pretty fellow to ride a goose a gallop 

5844 You are a sweet nut if you were well crackt 

5845 You are an honest man, and I am your uncle ; and 

that's two lies 

5846 You are afraid of the dog you never saw 

5847 You are come of good blood, and so is goose-pud- 

ding 

5848 You are in the highway to Needham 

5S49 You are in the roast-meat, while we are in the sod 

5850 You are like a cuckoo, you have but one song 

5851 You are like a bog, never good while living 

" I 5 



178 

5852 You are like fig-tree fuel, much smoke and little fire 

5853 You are like foul weather, you come unsent for, 

and troublesome when come 

5854 You are never pleased, full, nor fasting 

5855 You are none of the Hastings nor Hotspurs 

5856 You are not good, if you are so only for the sake of 

praise 

5857 You are not yet a roasting, and yet you'd have 

sops in the pan 

5858 You are one of those lawyers, that never heard of 

Littleton 

5859 You are so cunning, you know not what weather it 

is when it rains 

5860 You are so tender, you dare not he hanged for fear 

of galling your neck 

5861 You are very free of another man's pottage 

5862 You ask an elm tree for pears 

5863 You begin well in nothing, except you end well 

5864 You break my head, then give me a plaister 

5865 You bring a bit of wire, and take away a bar 

5866 You bring owls to Athens 

5867 You cackle often, but never lay an egg 

5868 You came a day after the fair 

5869 You came as seasonably as snow in summer 

5870 You came for wool, but shall return shorn your- 

self 

5871 You can have no more of a cat than a skin 

5872 You can never make a good shaft of a pig's tail 

5873 You can never speak courage into a coward 

5874 You cannot escape away from yourself 

5875 You cannot hide an eel in a sack 

5876 You cannot judge of a man till you know his 

whole story 
3877 You cannot make a hunting horn of a fox's tail 
,>878 You cannot make velvet of a sow's ear 
79 You cannot say mass, but at your own altar 

5880 You can't drive a windmill with a pair of bellows 

5881 You can't eat your cake, and have it too 

5882 You can't fare well, but you must cry roast meat 

i can't judge of the horse by the harness 

5884 You can't know wine by the cask 

5885 You can't sell the cow, and have her milk too 

5886 You carry fire in one hand, and water in the other 

5887 You cast your net, but nothing was caught 



179 

5888 You contend about a goafs beard, or lock of wool 

5889 You converse daily with the devil, and pretend to 

be frightened with a mouse 

5890 You con Id make broth, but you have no beef 

5891 You could spy trouble if your eyes were out 

5892 You cry hem, where there is no echo 

5893 You cut large thongs out of another's hide 

5894 You dare as well pull out one of the devil's teeth 

5895 You dare as well take a bear by the tooth 

5896 You dig your grave with your teeth 

5897 You do but water a dead stake 

5898 You drink out of the broad end of the funnel, and 

hold the little one to me 

5899 You drink vinegar when you have wine at your el- 

bow 

5900 You cat up that grass which I meant to make hay 

of 

5901 You find a gap where the hedge is whole 

5902 You find fault with a fat goose 

5903 You fish fair, and catch a frog 

5904 You gazed at the moon, and fell in the gutter 

5905 You give me Colloquintida for Herb-John 

5906 You give notable counsel ; but he's a fool that 

takes it 

5907 You go to a goat to buy wool 

5908 You gorge down wine as a swine swills whey 

5909 You had rather go to mill than to mass 

5910 You have a barn for all grain 

5911 You have a little wit, and it does you good some- 

times 

5912 You have a tangled skein of it to wind off 

5913 You have always a ready mouth for a ripe cherry 

5914 You have brought your hogs to a fair market 

5915 You have done your day's work ; you may unyoke 

5916 You have foul'd yourself, and now you'd have me 

clean you 

5917 You have found a colt's nest, and laugh at the 

eggs 

5918 \ou have found what was never lost 

5919 You have good manners, but never carry them 

about you 

5920 You have lost your own stomach, and found a dog's 

5921 You have made a hand of it like a foot 

5922 You have no goats, and yet you sell kids 



180 

5923 You have no need to borrow confidence 

5924 You have not lived all your time upon nuts 

5925 You have taken a bite out of your own arm 

5926 You hide yourself in a net, and think nobody 

sees you 

5927 You keep Easter when I keep Lent 

5928 You know not how to sew, and yet you'd be cut- 

ting out 

5929 You know not what ladle your dish may come 

under 

5930 You lay on your butter as with a trowel 

5931 You licked not your lips since you lied last 

5932 You look as if you'd make the crow a pudding 

ere long 

5933 You look for hot water under the ice 

5934 You look like a runner, quoth the devil to the 

crab 

5935 Y^ou look like the devil in day-light 

5936 You make a muck-hill on my trencher, quoth the 

bride 

5937 You make a great purchase when you relieve the 

necessitous 

5938 You make as good music as a wheelbarrow 

5939 You may be a wise man, and yet not know how to 

make a watch 

5940 You may beat the de'il into your wife, but you'll 

never bang him out again 

5941 You may be godly, but you'll never be cleanly 

5942 You may believe any thing that is good of a grate- 

ful man 

5943 You may dance on the ropes without reading Eu- 

clid 

5944 You may follow him long ere a shilling drop from 

him 

5945 You may gape long enough ere a bird fly into your 

mouth 

5946 You may give him good advice, but who can give 

him wit to take it ? 

5947 You may have a good memory, but you have a 

confounded judgment 

5948 You may have worse offers before May-day 

5949 You may know by a handful the whole sack 

5950 You may keep wool till it is dirt, and flax till it is 

silk 



181 

5951 You may know by a penny how a shilling spends 

5952 You may know by the market-folks how the mar- 

ket goes 

5953 You may love your neighbour, and yet not hold 

his stirrup 

5954 You may offer a bribe without fear of having your 

throat cut 

5955 You may pay for your schooling more than your 

learning is worth 

5956 You may row your heart out if the wind and tide 

set against you 

5957 You may truss up all his wit in an egg-shell 

5958 You may wink and choose 

5959 You measure every man's honesty by jour own 

5960 You meet a danger halt' way 

5961 You must ask your neighbours if you shall live in 

peace 

5962 You must be content sometimes with rough roads 

5963 You must be content to taste your own broth 

5964 You must look where it is not, as well as w here it is 

5965 You must not cut and deal too 

5966 You must not expect sweet from a dunghill, nor 

honour from a clow n 

5967 You must not hope to reap wheat where you sowed 

none 

5968 You must plough with such oxen as you have 

5969 You must sell as markets go 

5970 You must spoil before you spin well 

5971 You need not get a golden pen to write upon dirt 

5972 You need not go to the iron-nulls every time you 

lack a tacknr.il 

5973 You need not marry ; you have troubles enough 

without it 

5974 You never do it without overdoing it 

5975 You ought to untie that knot which you knit your- 

self 

5976 You owed me a sheep, but paid me a lamb 

5977 You plead after sentence given 

5978 You plough with an ox that will not miss a furrow 

5979 You pour water into a sieve 

5980 You pretend the public, but intend yourself 

5981 You pretend to be a visitor, but are really a spy 

5982 You put the clown above the gentleman 

5983 You run like Teague before yonr errand 



182 

5984 You saddle to-day, and ride out to-morrow 

5985 You saw out your tree before you cut it down 

5986 You scatter meal, and gather ashes 

5987 You scorn it, as a dog does tripe 

5988 You seek the needle where you never stuck it 

5989 You set saffron, and there came up wolfsbane 

5990 You sewed it with a red-hot needle and a burning 

thread 

5991 You shall have the whetstone 

5992 You shall never beat the fly from the candle, though 

she burn for it 

5993 You shall never clap a padlock upon my tongue 

5994 You shew bread in one hand, and a stone in t'o- 

ther 

5995 You should ask the world's leave before you com- 

mend yourself 

5996 You shut your budget before it is full 

5997 You sift night and day, and get nothing but bran 

5998 You sit upon thorns 

5999 You smile and bite 

6000 You spoil a good dish with ill sauce 

6001 You starve in a cook's shop 

6002 You take every bush for a bugbear 

6003 You take me up before I'm down 

6004 You take more care of your shoe than your foot 

6005 You talk of last year's snow 

6006 You tell your money over a gridiron 

6007 You to the cabbage, and I to the beef 

6008 You trust a great weight to a slender thread 

6009 You were begot a nutting, you speak in clusters 

6010 You were born when wit was scarce 

601 1 You were bred in Brazen-Nose college 

6012 You were put out of the oven for nipping of pies 

6013 You will neither dance nor hold the candle 

6014 1 »>u will never have a friend if you must have one 

without failings 

6015 You will never repent of being patient and sober 

6016 : ou would be little for God if the devil were dead 

6017 You'd find knots in a bulrush 

6018 You'd wash a blackmoor white 

6019 You'll be good when your goose pisseth 

6020 You'll beguile none but those that trust you 

6021 You'll bring a noble to nine-pence 

6022 You'll dance at the end of a rope without teaching 



183 

6023 You'll get the cat with nine tails 

6024 You'll have as much courtesy at Billingsgate 

6025 You'll keep it no longer than you cau a cat in a 

wheelbarrow 

6026 You'll know an idle fellow if you but see him at 

dinner 

6027 You'll make an end of your whistle, though the 

cart overthrow for it 

6028 You'll never be mad, you are of so many minds 

6029 You'll never be master of gold enough to break 

your back 

6030 You'll never get your revenge of a rich man 

6031 You'll not believe a man is dead till you see his 

brains out 

6032 You'll not believe him bald till you see his brains 

6033 You'll rather be begged than hanged tor your wit 

6034 You'll ride a horse that was foaled of an ass 

6035 You'll scratch a beggar before you die 

6036 Young cocks love no coops 

6037 Young is the goose that will not eat oats 

6038 Young men are made wise ; old men become so 

6039 Young men may die ; old men must 

6040 Young men should be learners when old men are 

actors 

6041 Young men think old men fools, but old men know 

the young are so 

6042 Young prodigal in a coach will be old beggar bare- 

foot 

6043 Your belly will neve let your back be warm 

6044 Your bread is buttered on both sides 

6045 Your cake is dough 

6046 Y'our dirty shoes are not welcome in my parlour 

6047 Your e%^ is ready roastea to your hand 

6048 Your father's honour is to you but a second-hand 

honour 

6049 Your great admirers are mostly but silly fellows 

6050 Your head's so hot that your brains bubble over 

6051 Your horns hang in your eyes 

6052 Your key fits not thai lock 

6053 Your last pig is farrowed 

6054 Your main fault is, you are good for nothing 

6055 Your mamma's milk is scarce out of your nose yet 

6056 Y our mind is upon chacing of mice 

6057 Your mouth hath beguiled your hands 



184 

6058 Your nut is ready crackt for you 

6059 Your old brass will bring you on a new pan 

6060 Your purse opened not when it was paid for 

6061 Your tongue has got the start of your wit 

6062 Your tongue is made of very loose leather 

6063 Your trumpeter's dead, and so you sound yourself 

6064 Your windmill is dwindled into a nut-cracker 

6065 Your wits are gone a wool-gathering 

6066 Youth and white paper take any impression 

6067 Zeal is by no means the same with fury and rage 

6068 Zeal is fit only for wise men, but is found mostly 

in fools 

6069 Zeal without knowledge is fire without light 

6070 Zeal without prudence is phrenzy 

6071 Zeal, when it is a virtue, is a dangerous one 

6072 He that goes out with often loss 
Comes home at last by weeping cross, 

6073 If you would live for ever 

You must wash the milk off your liver. 

6074 Who spends more than he should 
Hath not to spend when he would. 

6075 When you are anvil hold you still ; 
When you are hammer strike your fill. 

6076 My son is my son till he have got him a wife, 
But my daughter's my daughter all the days of her 

life. 

6077 If a man knew what things would be dear, 
He need be merchant but only one year. 

6078 Children and chicken 
Must ever be picking, 

6979 To live ever 

Would be clever. 
6079* Would you live an angePs days, 

Be honest, just, and wise always. 

6080 Eat at pleasure, 
Drink in measure. 

6081 Early to bed, and early to rise, 

Will make a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. 
6081*Find you without excuse, 

And find a hare without a muse. 

6082 Enough's as good's a feast 
To one that's not a beast. 



185 

6083 Truth may be blamed, 
But cannot be shamed. 

6084 If you trust before yon try 
You may repent before you die. 

6085 If youth but knew what age would eravc, 
'Twould ever get and ever save. 

6086 Were things done twice 
Then all were wise. 

6087 He that will steal a pin 
Will steal a better thing. 

6088 He must needs swim 
That is held by the chin. 

6089 To borrow upon usance 
Bringeth on a nuisance. 

6090 Time fleeth away 
Without delay. 

6091 Trash and trumpery 

Is the way to Duke Humphrey. 

6092 Give and spend, 
And God will send. 

6093 A good take heed 
Will surely speed. 

6094 He that would thrive 
Must rise by five ; 
He that hath thriven 
May lay till seven. 

6095 Two cats and one mouse, 
Two wives in one house, 
Two dogs at one bone, 
Can never agree in one. 

6096 Wars 
Brings scars. 

6097 Wide will wear, 
But narrow will tear. 

6098 If wishes would bide 
Beggars would ride. 

6099 Help, hands; 

For I have no lands. 

6100 Harm watch, 
Harm catch. 

6101 The more you heap 
The worse you cheap. 

6102 Of saving 
Cometh having, " 



186 

6103 A friend in need 
Is a friend indeed. 

6104 One God — no more; 
But friends good store. 

6105 Not God above 
Gets all men's love. 

6106 What God will 
No frost can kill. 

6107 Early sow, 
Early mow. 

6108 The longer east 
The longer west. 

6109 Want makes strife 
'Tween man and wife. 

61 10 In the forehead and the eye 
The lecture of the mind doth lie. 

6111 As a man is friended, 
So the law is ended. 

6112 There's not so bad a Jill, 
But there's as bad a Will. 

6113 The frog 
Cannot out of her bog. 

6114 Giving much to the poor 
Increaseth a man's store. 

6115 A belly full of gluttony 
Will never study willingly. 

6116 Speak what you will, 
A bad man will turn it ill. 

6117 What soberness conceals 
Drunkenness reveals. 

6118 Soon crooks the tree 

That good gambrel would be. 

6119 Fair in the cradle, 
And foul in the saddle. 

6120 Coinmcn fame 

Is mostly to blame. 
6120*Common fame, a cunning friar, 
Are but both a common liar. 

6121 As the bell clinks 
So the fool thinks. 

6122 Much bruit, 
Little fruit. 

6132 Money's better 

Than my lord's letter. 



187 

6124 What cannot be cured, 
Must be endured. 

6125 Nothing's a man's truly, 
Bat what he came by duly. 

6126 April showers 
Bring May flowers. 

6127 A March wisher 

Is never a good fisher. 

6128 They, that have no other meat, 
Bread and butter are glad to eat. 

6129 Who buys 

Had need of an hundred eyes ; 

But one's enough, 

For him that sells the stuff. 

6130 Fain would the cat fish eat, 
But she's loth her feet to wet. 

6131 When the cat is away, 
The mice will play. 

6132 Be the day ever so long, 

At length cometh even-song. 

6133 March borrows of April 
Three days, and they be ill. 

6134 April borrows of March again, 
Three days of wind and rain. 

6135 The first day oi' April, 

You may send a tool whither vou will. 

6136 The third of April 

Comes in the cuckoo and nighti: 

6137 March wind;; and May sun 

^IciivC clothes white, and maids dun. 
613S A winter's thunder 

Is a summer's wonder. 

6139 A cherry year, 
A merry year : 
A plumb year, 
A dumb T 

6140 As the day lengthens, 
So the cold strengthens. 

6141 If you would a good hedge have, 
Carrv the leaves to the s;ra\e. 

6142 If St. Paul be fair and clear, 
Then betides a happy year ; 
If the wind da blow aloft 

Then of wars we shall hear full oft i 



188 

If the clouds make dark the sky, 
Great store of people then will die ; 
If there be either snow or rain, 
Then will be dear all sorts of grain. 

6143 Sow beans in the mud, 
And they'll grow like wood. 

6144 A kindfy good Janiveer 
Freezeth the pot by the feere. 

6145 To rip old sores, 

And cast up old scores. 

6146 As your wedding-ring wears, 
You'll wear oif your cares. 

6147 If grass look green in Janiveer, 
'Twill look the worser all the year. 

6148 March in Janiveer, 
Janiveer in March I fear 

6149 Who in Janiveer sows oats, 
Gets gold and groats ; 
Who sows in May, 

Gets little that way. 

6150 February fill dike, 

Be it black, or be it white ; 
But if it be white, 
It's the better to sight. 

6151 All the months in the year, 
Curse a fair Februeer. 

6152 You should, upon Candlemas-day, 
Throw candle and candlestick away. 

6153 He that will not when he may, 
When he will, he shall have nay. 

6154 Wishers and woulders, 

Are never good householders. 

6155 The difference is very wide, 
That the sheets will not decide. 

6156 Farewell frost ; 

Nothing got, is nothing lost. 

6157 That's a lie with a latchet; 

All the dogs in the town cannot match it. 

6158 You may as soon 

Make a cloak for the moon. 

6159 Much matter, 

Of a wooden platter. 

6160 Annan of words, and not of deeds, 
Is like a garden full of weeds. 



189 

6161 Good weight and measure, 
Is heaven's treasure. 

6162 The receiver 

Is as bad as the thiever. 

6163 Before St. Chad, 

Every goose lays, both good and bacL 

6164 To the wise, 

A word may suffice. 

6165 Words are but wind, 
But blows unkind. 

6166 Words are but sands ; 
Its money buys lands. 

6167 In space 
Comes grace. 

6168 Ever spare, 
And ever bare. 

6169 Great spenders 
Are bad lenders. 

6170 Tho' 1 am bitten, 
I am not all eaten. 

6171 Novice, 
Like avarice. 

6172 Who so blind as he, 
That will not see ? 

6173 A little pot 
Is soon hot. 

6174 Store, 

Is no sore. 

61 75 Essex stiles, 
Kentish miles, 
Norfolk wiles, 
Many a man beguiles. 

6176 The postern door 
Makes thief and whore, 

6177 After a delay, 
Comes a stay. 

6178 Sure bind, 
Sure find. 

6179 Old young, 
And old long 

6180 Fill what you will, 
And drink what you fill. 

6181 Patch by patch is good housewifery ; 
But patch upon-patch plain beggary. 



190 

6182 He that will live in peace and rest, 
Must hear and see, and speak the best. 

6183 Fair words never break a bone, 
Foul words have broke in any a one. 

6184 Like blood, like goods, and like age, 
Make the happiest marriage. 

6185 Marry in haste, and repent at leisure ; 
Its good to marry late, or never. 

6186 When the fern is as high as a spoon, 
You may sleep an hour at noon. 

6187 He that lets his horse drink at every lake, 
And his wife go to every wake, 

Shall never have a good horse, 
Nor a good wife, which is worse. 

6188 Almost, and hard by, 
Saves many a lie. 

6189 An easy fool, 

Is a knave's tool. 

6190 A cool May, and a windy 
Barn, filletli up kindly. 

6192 May come early, come late, 
'Twill make the cow quake. 

6192 A hot May, as I've heard, 
Maketh a fat church-yard. 

6193 Leave not a clout, 
Till May be out. 

3194 A May flood 

Was never good. 

6194 Shear your sheep in May 
And clear them all away. 

6196 A swarm of bees in May 
Is worth a load of hay ; 
But a swarm in July 

Is not worth a fly. 

6197 Be sure of hay 

Till the end of May. 

6198 When April blows his horn 
It's good for hay and corn. 

6199 An April flood 

Carries away the frog and ber brood. 

6200 When the cuckow comes to the bare thorn 
Sell your cow, and buy you corn ; 

But when she comes to the bit full 
Sell your corn and buy you sheep wool. 



191 

6201 Tis said from the twelfth of May 
To the twelfth of July, all is day. 

6202 Be it weal, or be it woe, 

Beans should blow before May go. 

6203 Look at your corn in May 
And you'll come weeping away ; 
Look at the same in June 

And you'll come home in another tune. 

6204 If on the eighth of June it rain 

It foretels a wet harvest, men sain. 

6205 Never rued the man, 

That laid in his fuel before St. John. 

6206 Barnaby bright, 

The longest day, and the shortest night. 

6207 Calm weather in June 
Sets corn in tune. 

6208 No tempest, good July, 
Lest corn come off bluely. 

6209 Dry August and warm 
Doth harvest no harm. 

6210 St. Bartholomew 
Brings cold dew. 

6211 At St. Matthee, 
Shut up the bee. 

6212 St. Matthew 

Brings on the cold dew. 

6213 No weather's ill, 

If the wind be still. 

6214 September, blow soft, 
Till the fruit's in the loft. 

6215 A Michaelmas-tot 
Comes ne'er in the pot. 

6216 Foolish pity 
Ruins a city. 

6217 On Lady -day the later, 

The cold comes on the water, 

6218 Good October, a strong blast, 

To blow the hog acorn and mast. 

6219 Often drunk, and seldom sober, 
Falls likes the leaves in Octobei\ 

6220 On St. Luke's day 
The oxen may play. 

6221 November, take flail, 
Let ships no more sail. 



192 

6222 Lucy Light, 

The shortest day, and longest night. 

6223 When the wind's in the west, 
The weather's at the best. 

6224 When the wind is in the east, 

It's good for neither man, nor beast. 
6224* A right easterly wind 
Is very unkind. 

6225 When the wind is in the south, 
It's in the rain's mouth. 

6226 When the wind is in the south, 

It blows the bait into the fish's mouth. 

6227 Though old and wise, 
let still advise. 

6228 The liquorish cat 
Gets many a pat. 

6229 Coblers and tinkers 

Are the best ale drinkers. 

6230 Diversity of humours 
Breedeth tumours. 

6231 Brabling curs 
Ne'er want sore ears. 

6232 Hey ! ninny nanny ! 
One fool makes many. 

6233 The fewer his years, 
The fewer his tears. 

6234 He giveth twice, 
T^iat gives in a trice. 

6235 A man of gladness 
Seldom falls into madness. 

6236 No lock will hold, 
'Gainst keys of gold. 

6237 Itch, and ease, 
Can no man please. 

6238 A urinal and a law bill 
Bring a man to his last will. 

6239 The life of a man is a winter's day 
And a winter's way. 

6240 He is not a merchant bare, 

That hath money-worth, and ware. 

6241 He that once a good name gets 
May piss a-bed, and say he sweats. 

6242 Nothing crave, 
Nothing have. 



193 

6243 Let no woman's painting 
Breed thy heart's fainting. 

6244 A man without reason 
Is a beast in season. 

6245 A good recorder sets all in order. 

6246 Well to work, and make a fire, 
Doth good skill and care require. 

6247 Goods words, and no deeds, 
Are rushes and reeds. 

6248 The more years you have, 
The nearer your grave. 

6249 An ague in the spring 
Is physic for a king. 

6250 An apple, an egg, and a nut, 
You may eat after a slut. 

6251 After dinner, sit a while : 
After supper, walk a mile. 

6252 Good keal, is half a meal 

6253 He that would be wise and gay, 
Must eat butter and sage in May. 

6254 The father to the bough, 
The son to the plough. 

6255 The head and feet keep warm, 
The rest will take no harm. 

6257 The air of a window 

Is as a wound y a hind-blow. 

6258 Seek love, and it will shun ycu, 
Haste away, and he'll outrun you. 

6259 Whom love we best 
We talk to least. 

6260 He that loves glass without a G, 
Take away L, and that is he. 

6261 Wedlock's, A padlock. 

6262 Bless'd is the eye 
Tween Severn and Wye. 

6263 Many a one for land 
Takes a fool by the hand. 

6264 First canting, then wooing, 
Then dallying, then doing. 

6265 Happy's the wooing 
That's not long a doing. 

6266 He that would the daughter win, 
Must with the mother first begin, 

6267 Wives must be had, 
Be they good, or bad. 

K 



194 

6268 A nice wife, and back door, 
Often make a rich man poor. 

6269 Free of her lips, 
Free of her hips. 

6270 Beggars breed* 
And rich men feed. 

6271 Little said, soon amended : 
Little money, soon spended. 

6272 One wit and bought, 

Is worth two for nought. 

6273 Pride and grace 

Dwell never in one place. 

6274 Some have hap, 
And some nap. 

6275 Well sees the mouse 

That the cat's out of the house. 

6276 Up hill spare me, (an horse) 
Down hill forbear me ; 

Plain way, spare me not, 

Nor let me drink when I am hot. 

6277 We will bear with the stie 
If it bring but in chink. 

6278 Hell will never have its due, 
Till it have his hold on you. 

6279 He's up too soon, 
Who's hang'd ere noon. 

6280 Nothing is a man's truly, 
That he cometh not by duly. 

6281 The belly full, the empty skull. 

6282 Often might, Overcomes right. 

6283 Two in distress, 
Make sorrow less. 

6284 I stout, and thou stout, 
Who shall carry the dirt out ? 

6285 Good health is above wealth. 

6286 Bring something, lass, along with thee 7 
If thou intend to live with me. 

6287 An old cart, well used, 
A new one abused. 

6288 All shall be well, 

And Jack shall have JUL 

6289 By Lhan, Law, Les, 
By Tre, Pol, Pan, 
You soon may guess 
A Cornish man. 



195 

6290 Mere wishes 
Are silly fishes. 

6291 A stitch in time 
May save nine. 

6292 Grace will last, 
When beauty's past. 

6293 If not by might, 
E'en do't by slight. 

6294 Well beguu 
Is half done. 

6295 Birds of a feather 
Flock together. 

6296 He that's a blab 
Is a mere scab. 

Small roast. 

6298 He that wears black, 

Must hang a brush at his back. 

6299 When good cheer is lacking, 
Our friends will be packin 

6300 Salt cooks bear blame, 
But fresh cooks shame. 

6301 He's a wise man, who 

When he's well, can hold him so. 

6302 He that will cheat at play 
Will cheat you any way. 

6303 He that speaks the thing he should not. 
Shall often hear the thing he would not. 

6304 He's a wise man, who 
Can make a friend of a foe. 

. 6305 He that would do no ill, 

Must do all good, or sit still. 

6306 Blow the wind never so fast, 
It will fall at last. 

6307 Be thou weal, or be thou woe. 
Thou shalt not be ahvays so. 

6308 He that comes last, Makes all fast. 

6309 While the leg warmeth, 
The boot harmeth. 

6310 Better see a clout, Than a hole out. 

6311 A friend in court, Makes the process short 

6312 A man is weal or woe, As he thinks himself so. 

6313 A good wife and health, Are a man's best wealth. 

6314 A loan— Should come laughing home. 

K 2 



196 

6315 Take heed, Is a good read. 

6316 Look not too high, Lest a chip fall in yom eye, 

6317 He that lends 

Will lose money and friends. 

6318 Many a little, Make a mickle. 

6319 Little strokes, Fell great oaks. 

6320 Man proposes ; God disposes. 

6321 Measure's, A treasure. 

6322 No joy, Without annoy. 

6323 New honours, Change manners. 

6324 What greater crime, Than loss of time 

6325 The cow little giveth, That hardly liveth. 

6326 Let Uterpendragon, do what he can, 

The river Eden will run as it ran. 

6327 A little house well mv<i, 
A little land well till'd, 
And a little wife well whTd. 

6328 Four farthings and a thimble, 
Make a tailor's pocket jingle. 

6829 In truth Ihey must not eat, 
That will not work in heat. 

6330 He that has in his purse no money, 
Had need have in his mouth honey. 

6331 Where the horse lies down, 
There some hair will be found. 

6332 He's like Marten ; 

The more knave, the better fortune. 

6333 You are a fool to steal, 
Unless you can conceal. 

6334 He that goes a borrowing, 
Goes a sorrowing. 

6345 Let the grafts be very good, 

Or the knife be where it stood. 

6336 Who dainties love, 
Beggars shall prove. 

6337 At the first hand buy, 
At the third let lie. 

6338 Who nothing save, 
Shall nothing have. 

6339 By hawk and hound, 
Small profit's found. 

6340 Some come, some go ; 
This life is so. 

6341 All they get, 
Is fish in net 



197 

6342 An old nought 
Will never be ought. 

6343 A tyrant's breath 
Is another's death, 

6344 One doth the blame 
Another bears the shame. 

6345 Too late to spare 
When bottom's bare. 

6346 Better one well fili'd, 
Than two houses spill'd. 

6347 To the grave with the dead, 

And let them that live to the bread. 

6348 Harm watch, 
Harm catch. 

6349 A man can never thrive, 
Who has a wasteful w ife. 

6350 Tis the farmer's care, 
That make the field bear. 

6351 Trust nor contend, 

Nor lay wagers, nor lend, 

And you'll have peace to your end. 

6352 Pay what you owe, 

And what you're worth you'll know. 

6353 To give and to have, 
Doth a brain crave. 

6354 Excess of delight 
Palls appetite. 

6355 Wise fear 
Begets care. 

6356 A cold April 
The barn will fill. 

6357 Leave a jest, 

When it pleases you best. 

6358 A crackt bell 

Can never sound well. 

6359 Advice w hisper'd in the ear 
Is worth a jeer. 

6360 No pains, 
No gains. 

6361 Patience with poverty 
Is a poor man's remedy. 

6362 He that cannot pay, 
Let him pray. 

6363 There is never any cake, 

But there's some of the same make. 



198 

6364 Shameless pray, 

Must have shameless nay. 

6365 Sudden acquaintance 
Brings long repentance. 

6366 Sorrow, and strife, 
Make soon an old wife. 

6367 He that speaks lavishly, 
Shall hear as knavishly. 

6361 Sluggards guise, 

Slow to bed, and slow to rise. 

6369 Better are small fish 
Than an empty dish. 

6370 Sometimes words 
Hurt more than swords. 

6371 Account not that slavery, 
That brings in penny savoury. 

6372 All work and no play 
Makes Jack a dull boy. 

6373 Penny and penny, 
Laid up, will be many. 

6374 He makes an ill song 
Who has ne'er a tongue. 

6375 He can ill sip 

Who wants his upper lip. 

6376 'Tis plenty 

That makes you dainty. 

6377 It's merry in the hall, 
When beards wag all. 

6378 One year a nurse, 

A nd seven the worse. 

6379 Linen often to water, 
Soon to tatter. 

6380 Of young men die many, 
Of old men scape not any. 

6381 Birchen twigs 
Break no ribs. 

6382 At Candlenias, 

The cold comes to us. 

6383 An ape is ne'er so like an ape 

As when he wears a doctor's cape. 

6384 Who will not lay up a penny, 
Shall never have many. 

6385 He that would please all, and himself too, 
Undertakes what none could ever do. 



199 

6386 He that by the plough would thrive, 
Himself must either hold, or drive. 

6387 There's nothing agree worse, 

Than a prince's heart, and a bescgar's purse. 

6388 Be it better, or be it worse, 

Be ruled by him that bears the purse. 

6389 In vain doth the mill clack, 
If the miller his hearing lack. 

6390 If one but knew how good it were, 
To eat a pullet in Janiveer, 

If he had twenty in a flock, 

He'd leave but one to go with the cock. 

6391 A bushel of March dust is a thing 
That's worth the ransom of a king. 

6392 An ape's an ape ; a varlet's a varlet, 
Though they be clad in silk or scarlet. 

6393 The counsels that are given in wine, 
Will do no good to thee or thine. 

6394 When all is gone, and nothing left, 
Go too with dudgeon heft. 

6395 In times of prosperity friends will be plenty. 
In time of adversity not one in twenty. 

9396 A maid oft seen, and a gown oft worn, 
Are disesteem'd — and held in scorn. 

6397 Before thou marry, 

Make sure of a house wherein to tarry, 

6398 Who more than he is worth doth spend, 
E'en makes a rope his life to end. 

6399 A thousand pounds, and a bottle of hay> 
Are just the same at doom's day. 

6400 If the patridge had the woodcock's thigh, 
'Twould be the best bird that ever did fly. 

6401 The love of wine, and love of a woman, 

Are sweet for a season — then pleasant to no man. 

6402 Be always as merry as ever you can, 
For no one delights in a sorrowful man. 

6403 He that woos a maid, must come seldom in her 

sight; 
But he that woos a w idow, must woo her day and 
night. 

6404 A woman, a spaniel, and a walnut tree, 
The more they're beaten, the better they be. 

6405 There is no mischief in the world done, 
But a woman is" always one. 



200 

6406 A wicked woman, and an evil, 

Is three half-pence worse than the devil. 

6407 He that is needy, when he is married, 
Shall not be rich when he is buried. 

6408 As the goodman saith, so say we: 

But as the goodwife saith, so it must be. 

6409 Fair and foolish, black and proud; 
Long and lazy, little and loud. 

6410 Maidens must be mild and meek; 
Swift to hear, but slow to speak. 

6411 Remember man and keep in mind, 
A faithful friend is hard to find. 

6412 The more haste, the worse speed ; 
Quoth the tailor to his long thread. 

6413 The good, or ill hap of a good, or ill life. 

Is the good or ill choice of a good or ill wife. 

6414 When I did well, I heard it never; 
"When I did ill, 1 heard it ever. 

6415 When the fool finds a horse-shoe, 
He thinks always so to do. 

6416 Women and wine, game and deceit, 
Make the wealth small, and the wants great. 

6417 If men w on Id make haste when on foot, 
They need not put their horses to't* 

6418 What raging rashly is begun, 
Challeugeth shame, before half done. 

6419 They that worship God merely for fear, 
Would worship the devil too, should he appear. 

6420 The higher the plumb-tree, the riper the plumb; 
The richer the cobler, the blacker his thumb. 

6421 When Adam dclv'd, and Eve span, 
Pray where was then the gentleman? 

6422 He that buys land, buys many stones; 
He that buys flesh, buys many bones : 
He that buys eggs, buys many shells; 
But he that buys ale, buys nothing else. 

6423 Our fathers, who were wond'rous wise, 
Washed their throats before their eyes. 

6424 Break coals, cut candle, set brand on end, 
Neither good housewife, nor good housewife's 

friend. 

6425 No more mortar, no more brick : 

A crafty knave has a cunning trick. 

6426 It would make a man scratch where it doth not itch, 
To see a man live poor to die rich. 



201 

6427 He that hath more smocks than shirts in a bucking- ; 
Hath need be a man of a good fore-looking* 

6428 Money we want, and cannot borrow ; 
Yet drink we must, to slacken sorrow. 

6429 Cold broth hot again, that lov'd T never ; 
Old love renew'd again, that lov'd I ever. 

6430 Great wits to madness, sure, are near allied, 
And thin partitions do their bounds divide. 

6431 Like dogs that snarl about a bone ; 
And play together when they've none. 

6432 He that gets money before he gets wit, 
AVill be but a short while master of it. 

6433 His wit got wings, and would have flown ; 
But poverty still kept him down. 

6434 He has wit at will, 

iijcil »uu an iingij neart can nold Him siill. 

6435 He that spends all upon a whore, 
Both shame and sorrow must endure. 

6436 Its God that feeds the crows, 

That neither tills, harrows, nor sows. 

6437 Know when to spend, and when to spare, 

And you need not be busy ; you'll ne'er be bare. 
4438 The tricks a colt gets at his first breaking, 
Will, whilst he lives, never be lacking. 

6439 He that leaves certainty, and sticks to chance, 
When fools pipe, he may dance. 

6440 Its a good horse that never stumbles ; 
And a good wife that never grumbles. 

6441 The best horse needs breeching ; 
And the aptest child needs teaching. 

6442 He that buys a house ready wrought, 
Has many a pin and nail for nought. 

6443 He that buys lawn before he can fold it, 
Shall repent him before he have sold it. 

6444 Look well before you leap, 

For snakes among the flowers creep. 

6446 He that will meddle with all things 
May go shoe the goslings. 

6447 If a woman were as little as she is good, 

A peascod would make her a gown and a hood. 

6448 Say well, and do well, end with a letter ; 
Say well is good, but do well is better. 

6449 Who goes more bare 

Than the shoemaker's wife and the smith's mare I 



202 

6450 Who doth sing so merry a note 

As the cobler, that cannot change a groat 

6451 Good riding at two anchors men have told, 
For if one break, t'other may hold. 

6452 The world was never so dull still, 
But if one won't another will. 

6453 I wrote well how the world wags ; 
He is most lov'd that hath most bags. 

6454 When the cat winketh, 

Little wots the mouse what the cat thinketh. 

6455 They that cobble and clout 

Shall have work when others go without. 

6456 Who gives away goods before he be dead, 

You should take a beetle and knock him o'the 
head. 

6467 Givt t t child all ho shall ciave, 

And a dog while his tail doth wave ; 

And you'll have a fair dog and foul knave. 

6458 It's hard to split the hair, 

That nothing is wanted, and nothing to spare. 

6459 He that winketh with one eye, and seeth with t'o* 

ther, 
I would not trust him, though he were my brother. 
6463 He that still gapeth till he be fed, 
Well may he gape until he be dead. 

6461 Tell me with whom thou goest, 
And I'll tell thee what thou doest. 

6462 He that hears much, and speaks not at all, 
Shall be welcome both in bower and hall. 

6463 Had I revenged every wrong, 

I had not worn my skirts so long. 

6464 Many talk of Robin Hood, that never shot in his 

bow, 
And many talk of Little John, that never did him 
know. 

6465 Better ride, when saddles do lack, 

On a pad, than on a bare horse's back. 

6466 He that hath but little, he shall have less ; 

And he that hath right nought, right nought shall 
possess. 

6467 If St, Swithin weep, that year, the proverb says, 
The weather will be foul for forty days. 

6468 If the first of July it be rainy weather, 

'Twill rain more or less for four weeks together. 



203 

6469 A shower in July, when the corn begins to fill, 

Is worth a plough of oxen and all belongs there till, 

6470 Till St. James's day be come and gone, 
You may have hops, or you may have none. 

6471 If the twenty-fourth of A ugust be fair and clear, 
Then hope for a prosperous autumn that year. 

6472 When a musician has forgot his note, 

He makes as though a crumb stuck in his throat. 

6473 Nothing more smooth than glass, yet nothing more 

brittle ; 
Nothing more fine than wit, yet nothing more fickle. 

6474 March balkham 

Comes in like a lion, goes out like a lamb. 

6475 So many mists as in March you see, 
So many frosts in May will be. 

6476 March many weathers rain'd and blow'd, 
But March grass never did good. 

6477 A peck of March dust, and a shower in May, 
Makes the corn green, and the fields gay. 

6478 If you will have good cheese, and have old, 
You must turn him seven times before he is cold. 

6479 When elder is white brew and bake a peck ; 
When elder is black, brew and bake a sack. 

6470 Winter's thunder and summer's flood 
Never boded Englishman good. 

6481 The pigeon never knoweth woe, 
But when she doth a benting go. 

6482 This rule in gardening never forget — 
To sow dry*, and set wet. 

6483 When the slow-tree is as white as a sheet 
Sow your barley, whether it be dry or wet. 

'6484 If Janiveer's calends be summerly gay, 

'Twill be winterly weather till the calends of May. 

6485 It is an omen bad, the yeomen say, 

If Phoebus shew his face the second day. 

6486 The shepherd would as soon see his wife on the bier 
As that Candlemas-day should be pleasant and 

clear. 
If on Candlemas-day it be shower and rain, 
Winter is gone, and will not come again. 

6487 If Candlemas-day be fair and bright, 
Winter will have another flight. 

6488 On Candlemas-day 

You must have half your straw and half your hay. 



£04 

6489 On Valentine's day 
Will a good goose lay T 

If she be a good goose, her dame well to pay, 
She will lay two eggs before Valentine's day. 

6490 Such envious things the women are, 
That fellow flirts they cannot bear. 

6491 Every lamb 
Knows its dam. 

6492 A Saturday's moon, 

If it comes once in seven years, comes too soon. 

6493 No weather's ill 

If the wind hold still. 

6494 A light purse 

Is a heavy curse. 

6495 A knight of Cales, 

A gentleman of Wales, 
And a laird of the north country ; 

There's a yeoman of Kent, 

That with one year's rent 
Will buy them all three. 

6496 An ounce of wit's that bought 
Is worth a pound that's taught, 

6497 Sirrah your dog, but sirrah not me ; 
For I was born before you could see. 



THE END, 



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